Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Nonsense
by Magical Girl Pinkie
Summary: Team Pokecuties is your average exploration team. The leader, Peach, has a short fuse. Her partner, Mario, is a coward. Not much is known about Shinji, one of her teammates. Can this team save the world? Chapter 17 is FINALLY up!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This is my first fan fiction. I hope this turns out well! Basically the story is about a girl named Peach who finds her way into the dark future of the Pokemon world though a dimensional hole. (Yes, I know that in the game, the hero lived in the future as a human, but in this story I changed it a little to make Peach come from the "real" world and find her way into the future.) **

**Disclaimer:Pokemon is not mine! Also, Peach is NOT referring to the princess in the Mario games.**

**Warning!- This may contain spoilers from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time and Darkness!**

**Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Nonsense**

**Chapter 1- In Which Nothing of Real Importance Happens**

"A bad grade on both my math and science tests," a girl with extremely light skin and weirdly colored pink eyes sighed. Tears started to well up in her eyes and a few seconds later, she started to cry. In a blind rage, she went to a dark alley and crumbled up both tests into a ball and threw it on the floor.

Before the story gets any farther and more confusing, let me tell you that the girl's name is Peach. It is probably predictable that something is going to pop up randomly and change the whole setting. Well, if guessed that, you are correct! Sorry for the interruption!

Suddenly, the ball of failure seemed to be pulled by some unknown force. Before Peach could find the source, she was pulled by the by the same force. Both the papers and Peach were being dragged into something called a dimensional hole!

**Sorry if it was too short! I need help with ideas for later chapters, so please give me some suggestions, no flaming please! Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2the grey future

**Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine! Peach is NOT referring to the character in the Mario games.**

**Now that is out of the way, here's a longer chapter!**

**Chapter 2: The Grey Future**

THUD! Peach landed on her butt onto a grey, grassy floor. The test ball came out second and bounced off Peach's head and on to the floor. The dimensional hole vanished, trapping Peach there until another one appeared. Peach stood up and looked at her surroundings.

She was in a forest, but everything was grey and nothing was moving an inch. Everywhere she looked, there were grey trees. Nothing but trees, grey motionless trees. The only things that weren't trees were her her tests, a staircase, and a strange gear thing between two trees. Noticing the gear-like object, Peach reached and grabbed it.

Peach felt a strange feeling the instant she touched the object because her vision blurred, she heard her heart beating, and she got dizzy. For a few moments, she could hear nothing but voices in her head.

"**There it is! That's the time gear, right? But time is still stopped!"**

"**Grovyle, wasn't time supposed to start flowing again when the time gear was returned?"**

"**Time must be collapsing already..."**

Peach shook her head, returning her vision and hearing to normal. She thought she was still hearing things when she heard footsteps coming from the staircase. Thinking it was another person, she picked up her tests and hid them behind her back and hid behind the staircase. Soon she realized that the footsteps did not come from a human, they came from a Pokemon!

The Pokemon's feet were green, its belly was red with a green stripe between its legs, had a leafy tail, it also had a leaf on its head and arms, and was fast. When it came down the stairs, she knew who it was, it was a Grovyle.

The Grovyle was covered in scratches, and soon she knew that it could talk!

"Someone was already here," he said looking at the time gear, which Peach had dropped while she was hearing things.

"I'm sorry! I touched the time gear and then I got dizzy and then I started hearing things and t-then," Peach blurted out, scared of what he might do to her. Peach popped out of her hiding spot, waiting to be detected by Grovyle.

"What!? How could a human like her possibly have," Grovyle said, shocked. He had never seen a real human before, she had never seen a real Pokemon before, either.

"H-have w-what?" Peach asked, confused.

"The dimensional scream, it's a rare ability that you experienced when you touched the time gear," Grovyle explained to the shocked young girl.

"Grovyle, are there any other people who have what I have?" Peach asked.

"Not that I know," Grovyle answered. So that was the start of an hour long conversation, consisting of Peach asking questions like "are there any other humans here," and other questions like that. The talking ended when somebody else came down the stairs.

Like Grovyle, it was a Pokemon, but "they were" is more fitting for this guest. One of them was like a ghost with a mouth on its belly, and the rest of the Pokemon were purple and had jewels on their bellies and eyes. Peach knew who they were again, a Dusknoir and a few Sableye.

These Pokemon were not looking for the time gear like Grovyle was, they wanted to kill him! The Sableye were first to attack, and when he was weak enough, Dusknoir went near him and opened the mouth on his belly, charging up for a devastating attack.

"Get away from my friend, you big mean ghost!" With all her might, she threw the tests at Dusknoir, making him lose his charge and pick up and read the papers for some unknown reason. First, he read the the science test.

"The Earth tilts on its equator. The axis doesn't experience changes in the seasons because it is always very cold," he read.

"Don't read that! It's too embarrassing," Peach said. After she made her existence clear to Dusknoir and his underlings, another conversation started, this time Dusknoir asking questions and Peach saying "go away."

"Leaf Blade!" Grovyle snuck up behind Dusknoir and "stabbed" him in the back with the leaves on his arms. In the middle of the ruckus between Peach and Dusknoir, Grovyle had picked up an oran berry, and now all of his scratches were gone and he was much stronger than before. The two Pokemon fought until Dusknoir and his Sableye retreated. After the fight, Grovyle explained everything and asked her to help him find the four other time gears and eventually time travel to the past to prevent what happened in the future, time was stopped. Peach happily accepted, and so their adventures together began, but when the time to travel to the past came, an event that would change her life forever occurred.

**So this chapter is longer than the first one... Please give me some suggestions for the next chapter! No flaming please! Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3 the accident

**Disclaimer:Pokemon belongs to Nintendo! Not me!**

**Also, I made a mistake while writing the previous chapter, I made Grovyle use Razor Leaf which in the games, he cannot learn. Sorry for the confusion.**

**Spoiler Warning!- This contains spoilers from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time and Darkness!**

**Chapter 3: The Accident**

"Are you two ready?" A friend of Grovyle's, Celebi asked.

"Just take us to the passage of time already," Peach answered impatiently. It was only a matter of time until they got to the passage of time, which Grovyle and Peach would use to go to the past. After a few minutes of talking, Peach "heard" some footsteps. (not really.)

After they said goodbye to Celebi, they started going thorough the passage of time. Peach quickly realized this was not like the dimensional holes, she had to walk in the passage of time.

Five minutes into the walk, Peach got tired. She claimed she couldn't move anymore, but Grovyle convinced her to keep going. Ten minutes later, she noticed a dark ball heading towards Grovyle!

"Grovyle! Watch out!" Peach pushed Grovyle out of the way, but the shadowy ball hit her.

"Whoa! A-are you ok?" Grovyle asked in shock.

"I-I'm f-fine G-Grovyle," Peach responded, sounding like she was hurt.

"Why did you protect me?"

"B-because y-you are my friend." Peach said happily over the pain.

"A human protecting a Pokemon, how pitiful," said a dark figure, coldly. It was made clear that the figure attacked them earlier when it charged up an even larger ball.

"W-watch out!" Peach said right before standing in front of Grovyle to take the attack again.

"Waaaaah!" A flash of light appeared the moment Peach sacrificed herself to protect Grovyle. After the light faded, both Peach and the mysterious figure disappeared.

In the past, it was a dark and stormy night, an improvement over the future. A Pikachu ironically named Mario couldn't believe his eyes when he saw something fall from the sky. The "thing" was a Piplup who apearently didn't know how to swim.

"Ack! Bleh! Glug." The poor water type who didn't know how to swim passed out on the sand. The reason why it didn't know how to swim was because it was really Peach. Peach had not really given up her life, she only gave up her human form and something else...

**Thank you for reading! Let me explain why my main character is named Peach ****and why the Pikachu is named Mario. Well, this fanfic is based on my version of Explorers of Time and I have this habit of naming myself Peach for some reason and I thought it would be cute to name my partner Mario. If you liked my story or think there are some things I should change, please review my story, but don't say anything too mean.**


	4. Chapter 4 Pikachu and the Beach Cave

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and not me. Go Nintendo!**

**Warning! Contains spoilers from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time and Darkness**

**Chapter 4: The cowardly Pikachu and the beach cave**

**(Based off of chapter 1: Storm at Sea, in Explorers of Time and Darkness)**

In the morning of a bright and sunny day, a Pikachu named Mario for some strange reason was standing in front of a building that was shaped like a Wigglytuff.

"Today's the day I'll finally get into Wigglytuff's guild! Now if I stand on this thing on the hole for a few seconds," Mario said to himself. He stepped on the thing covering the hole for barely ten seconds before he heard a loud, booming voice below him.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected! The footprint is Pikachu's! The footprint is Pikachu's!" Mario was scared so much that he immediately jumped off of the hole. He reached into his bag and pulled out a rock with a strange pattern.

"I couldn't do it after all. I thought this was supposed to help me but I was wrong. Well, time to go to the beach and watch the bubbles, like I always do every single day," Mario sighed. He put his treasure in his bag and headed down the stairs, unaware that he was being followed by two sneaky Pokemon, Koffing and Zubat.

At the beach, Mario did his daily ritual of watching bubbles.

"Bubbles are so pretty, they help me get past the sorrow of not getting into the guild. Oh! There's a big one!" Mario said looking to the left. He soon noticed an unconscious Piplup in the sand.

"Hey, Piplup! Wake up!" Mario shook Piplup until it woke up.

"W-why are you calling me a Piplup?! I'm a human, you dork! Look! I have opposable thumbs!" Piplup held out her flippers to show Mario that she was a human, which she was not. (Yes, Piplup is female.)

"Those are flippers, not thumbs. And you look like a Piplup to me. What's your name anyway?" Mario pointed out. Piplup was shocked when she looked at her reflection in the ocean.

"I really am a Piplup! Oh, you asked what my name was? My name is Peach," She said after getting over the shock.

"Hello, Peach. Somehow I have a strange feeling that name is somehow ironic. By the way, my name is Mario," he responded.

"Hey, what's in that bag you're holding, anyway?" Peach asked. Mario took his treasure out of his bag to show her.

"This is my personal treasure, I like to call it my relic fragment. I don't know what the pattern means, but someday I'm going to find out what it means. It means the world to me." Mario explained.

"Wow! It's so cool!" Peach said. She started to look around, which was something she should have done five minutes ago. "Where was I before this? Why am I here? Most importantly, why am I a Piplup?! I can't remember anything!" Peach was troubled. Mario had forgotten to put the relic fragment back in his bag, and because of that, he was suddenly attacked by Koffing and Zubat!

"I got it!" One of them said after stealing the treasure.

"Put it in the bag!" The other said in a rush. The thief put it in his bag.

"Give it back! That is my friend's personal treasure! It means everything to him!" Peach yelled in an attempt to get Mario's treasure back.

"If it's really that important to your BOYFRIEND, come and get it! We'll fight you at the beach cave pit." Koffing and Zubat fled into the cave nearby.

"Come on Mario! We'll get your relic fragment back together! Mario? What's wrong? Are you scared?" Mario burst into tears.

"I can't, I can't fight. I'm too weak. You go ahead, you can keep the relic fragment..." Mario said, crying.

"Come on, Mario, I'll protect you. If it really matters to you, let's go to beach cave!" Peach tried to encourage him, but he only answered with "I don't wanna go." Peach soon forced him to go into the cave with her by pulling him by the tail.

**Beach Cave B1F**

"I said I didn't want to go!" Mario cried at Peach.

"Why?" Peach asked. They were soon attacked by a Shellos!

"T-That's why!" Mario did not know what to do to defend himself.

"Come on! You're scared of a water type like Shellos?! You're an electric type for pete's sake! You can easily take him down! I'll help you." Peach grabbed Mario by his red cheeks and started rubbing them in a poor attempt to create static electricity. Somehow, Peach's idea worked. Mario learned thunder shock!? With his new move Mario found the courage to take down the Shellos.

"That's not how a Pikachu learns thunder shock, but thanks anyway..." Mario thanked Peach.

"Mario! There's the stair case!"

**Beach Cave B2F**

"I'll look for the staircase, Mario, please watch my back for any enemies nearby." Mario took it literally and started staring at Peach's back.

"I said help me fight enemies!" Mario started to blush. They stayed on the floor for a grand total of five minutes, gaining six levels. Peach learned bubble and Mario learned thunder wave.

**Beach Cave B3F**

"Hey! There's the stairs!"

"That was quick, Peach."

**Beach Cave B4F**

"That was lucky, the stairs are right there! Let's go get your treasure back Mario!"

**Beach Cave Pit**

"There you are thieves! Now give my treasure back! It means everything to me!" Mario said as soon as he saw the two Pokemon who stole the relic fragment.

"Wow, I never thought that wimp Mario and his GIRLFRIEND would actually come down here!" Koffing taunted the pair.

"I'm not his girlfriend! I'm just his friend!" Peach was really ticked off, but she was not just ticked off, she was furious! Peach suddenly learned peck and used it on Koffing, knocking him into the water behind him with Peach. He tried to get up, but he was pushed back in by a boiling mad Peach.

"P-Peach that's enough! Koffing is going to drown if you keep him down there any longer!" Mario tried to get Peach to let Koffing go.

"I-If you let Koffing go, I'll give back the relic fragment. Is that ok?" Zubat asked, worried for his friend. Peach and Koffing soon surfaced.

"That Piplup is SCARY when she's mad! Let's run!" Koffing said attempting to run away.

"Not before you give back Mario's treasure!" Peach said.

"Fine! Here's your rock back. Zubat, let's go back home." Koffing and Zubat soon left.

"Thank you Peach, but don't be so violent. You could have killed Koffing if you kept him down there any longer. Next time, don't get so mad." Mario said to Peach.

"I'm sorry, Mario. Come on, let's get out of here!" Peach said.

**Back outside Beach Cave**

"Peach there's something I want to ask you." Mario said.

"What is it Mario?" Peach asked.

"Do you want to form an exploration team?" He asked.

"Sure!" Peach answered.

"Great! From now on we're an exploration team! But first, we need to go to Wigglytuff's guild! Come with me! It will be fun!"

"What is Wigglytuff"s guild?" Peach asked.

"You'll see!" Mario answered

And that was how the team with a ridiculous name started.

**Thank you for reading! **

**This story is not a crossover at all, except for two of the character's names, but they are not related to any Mario characters at all. **


	5. Chapter 5 Pokecuties

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo! Hooray for Nintendo!**

**This is my version of Explorers of Time! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2:**

**The team with the ridiculous name is born**

"Where are we going anyway!?" Peach was calling out to her new friend, Mario. Peach used to be a young human girl, but somehow she ended up turning into a Piplup and losing her memory. Mario was always a Pikachu and was never related to Peach. Right now, they were heading up a long staircase up to Wigglytuff's Guild. They came to a hole with a grate on it.

"Peach, you go ahead and wait on that thing for a few seconds, and they will let us in after that," Mario started pacing around while Peach stood on the grate.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected! The foot print is... I don't know. Loudred, please see who it is for me!"

"All right, I'll go up already," A Loudred came though the door to check out the visitor, Peach. "Wow, a Piplup. One of them actually came all the way from Blizzard Island, there aren't many Piplup around here these days-" Loudred said quietly.

"Can we go in now?" Mario said impatiently.

"It's you! That Pikachu who lives in the Sharpedo Bluff! Are you taking advantage of this Piplup just to get into the guild!?" Loudred shouted at Mario, boiling with anger.

"He's not taking advantage of me! We came here to form an exploration team, so please let us in," Peach explained, trying hard to sound calm.

"That's what he wants you to think! Blah blah blah..."

"Just let them in already! You're giving me a migraine just from listening to you."

"Fine! I'll let you go off easy, kid, this time." Loudred started grumbling as the duo finally went into the guild.

Peach looked around at her surroundings as they climbed down onto the main floor of the guild. Mario and Peach were soon in the guild master's room, talking to Wigglytuff.

"So you want to form an exploration team? What do you want to call it?" Wigglytuff asked the two eager Pokemon.

"We should give our team a name, how about team awesome or team electrifying water or," Mario eagerly started suggesting names for their new team.

"Team Pokecuties, that will be the team's name," Peach told Wigglytuff.

_Pokecuties?! That name is ridiculous! Was she even listening to MY ideas at all? _Mario started to have indescribable nightmares in his head about how nobody would take their team seriously with a name like Pokecuties.

"Here is your starter kit, team P-Pokecuties," Wigglytuff tried to not laugh at the team's name. The starter kit included: a pink badge and a small bag to hold items in. Mario's stomach rumbled as loud as an Exploud.

"I'm pooped, let's go eat!" Mario ran to some random room. After eating a meal of apples with a side of gummis, team Pokecuties went to bed, but not before Peach made Mario have a nightmare by telling him a scary story...

**Mario's Strange Nightmare (From his point of view)**

**It was dark. I couldn't see anything... except for these glowing pink eyes**

**"Blizzard!" It started snowing, and then it started getting harder and harder...**

**"Who are you and why are you attacking me?!"**

**"..."**

**"Who are you?! Answer me!" It started getting brighter for some reason, and soon my attacker was revealed. She was not a Pokemon, but she was a human. She had light skin, blond hair, and her clothing was all blue with matching shoes and an headband.**

**"I am someone who is very close to you... Hydro Pump!"**

**"Waaah!"**

**End of Nightmare...**

**Back in the Guild...**

"Mario! Wake up!" Peach shook Mario until he woke up.

"P-Peach! I just had this strange dream where I was attacked by a human!"

"I-I'm so glad you're safe!" Peach hugged Mario tight with tears welling up in her eyes.

"W-What?!"

"I had a dream where I was also attacked by a human, but when I asked who she was, she claimed she was me!"

"We should tell the guild master about this!"

"No, let's just keep it a secret..."

"All right, we should get back to sleep." And so, team Pokecuties went back to sleep and had no more nightmares for the rest of the night...

**As you noticed the last part was added in by me mostly because I think I mostly wanted to have a character that at least seems serious, so I added in a human version of Peach that will not appear often. Not all fan fictions have to go exactly by the games they are based on right?**


	6. Chapter 6 Spoink without a pearl?

**Disclaimer:Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and not me!**

**Chapter 6 (not 3):**

**What is a Spoink without its pearl anyway?**

"GET UP!!" Loudred shouted at the sleeping couple.

"Five more minutes..." Peach was NOT ready to wake up

"The guild master will be very ANGRY with you two if you don't get up this second!"

"Fine..." Peach got up, releasing a horrible smell.

"Yuck! What is that smell? Peach! It's coming from your bed!" Mario said noticing the smell coming from her bed.

"I don't smell anything... Hey! My bed is wet..." Peach responded, revealing that her sense of smell was not that good.

"HOW DID IT GET WET!?" Loudred exploded.

"Loudred! Peach! Mario! The guild master is getting impatient! Report to the main floor immediately or no dinner for the three of you tonight!" Chatot barged in.

At the main floor, Wigglytuff announced team Pokecuties's existence to the rest of the guild. Luckily, no one burst into laughter at their name. Five long minutes later, Chatot led them to a board where he picked out a job just for the new team. It required them to retrieve a Spoink's pearl from the mystery dungeon, Drenched Bluff.

"How could a Spoink be without its pearl? What could happen if he lost it?" Peach asked.

"They start to weaken and then they can't bounce and if they can't bounce their heart stops beating and they die." Chatot explained

"Anyway, here's a map to show you where the mystery dungeon is." Chatot gave them a map.

"Come on Mario! Let's go get that pearl!" Peach started pulling Mario by the tail for no real reason.

**Drenched Bluff Entrance**

"The pearl should be on the seventh floor, right?" Mario tried to confirm the pearl's location.

"Yup," Peach confirmed.

"Let's go find that pearl!"

**Drenched Bluff B1F **

"Watch out Mario! There's a Lileep right behind you!" The Lileep prepared to attack as Mario turned around. _Lileep used Constrict! Mario was wrapped by its opponent!_

"P-Peach, you can go on w-without me..."

"Mario! Stop acting like you are about to die! Stop playing dead and fight!" _Peach used Peck! It would have been super effective if Lileep wasn't a dual rock/grass type... At least Lileep took damage and Mario was freed from Constrict!_

"Now it's my turn!" _Mario used Thunder shock! It's super effective... just kidding! It's not very effective... Lileep took 100 damage, just kidding! Lileep took 1 damage... Lileep was defeated! How much damage did Peck cause anyway?!_

"Yuck! What is this pink thing?! Oh, yea, it's a Shellos..."

"I'll take care of this one Peach!" Mario used Thunder Shock, instantly defeating the Shellos. Shellos dropped a pure seed, which would warp the Pokemon who ate it to the staircase.

"Hey! What's this thing? It looks yummy," Peach ate the pure seed, "Mario, what did I just eat? I feel all floaty..." Peach warped to the staircase instantly!

"Peach! Where are you? Answer me! I'm too weak to fight alone, that's why I need you by my side! Most importantly, if we can't retrieve Spoink's pearl, Spoink will..." Mario started crying uncontrollably.

"Mario! I'm in the next room! I'm not dead yet! I warped near the staircase, so we don't need to search as hard! Isn't that great!" Peach was calling from the other room. Mario went to Peach's location and hugged her tightly. "Hey! There's no need to get over-emotional..."

"Awkward..." A few Pokemon whispered while spectating. Peach got so angry that she pecked almost all of the Pokemon to death. Mario went up the staircase to be safe from his partner's wrath.

**Drenched Bluff B2F**

"I'm safe! If I stayed there for just a few more seconds, I would be as good as dead," Mario sighed. He was behind Peach because for some reason she warped to him when he went to the next floor. A Shellos tackled Mario from behind, but soon after the move, Shellos became paralyzed!

"Mario! That's your static ability, it has a chance of paralyzing your foes when they make a direct attack!" Peach smiled softly at her partner.

"Peach, what's your ability?" Mario asked.

"Torrent, it makes my water type moves more powerful when I'm close to fainting," Peach responded.

"Hello, I'm over here, I can't move..."

"It's your turn, Mario! I can't do anything because of Shellos's storm drain ability..."

"Right! Here goes nothing!" Mario used Thundershock and defeated Shellos!

**Skipping to the bottom of the dungeon...**

"Wow! There it is! There's Spoink's pearl! Let's go back to the guild!" Peach picked up the pearl.

**Back at the guild!**

"Thank you, team Pokecuties!" Spoink's pearl was back where it belonged, on his head. "Here's your reward. Take this oran berry and 2000 pok`e (money)!"

**"**We're rich! Lets go spend our reward on something nice!" That was Mario's first reaction.

"Not so fast! Most of the money from the rewards goes to the guild, so your reward is really 200 pok`e not 2000." Chatot took most of the money while Peach started twitching. _Do not attack Chatot... Do not attack Chatot... _was all she was thinking.

"Uh oh! Chatot, run away if you want to see the light of day ever again!" Peach chased Chatot around the guild in a blind rage...

**Let's end the chapter here before this gets too violent...**

**And so, that was the start of team Pokecuties's adventures.**

**Don't forget to tell me how you think!**

**Bye Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7 The title's a pun!

**Disclaimer:Pokemon belongs to Nintendo!**

**Chapter 7:**

**Mt. Bristle With an Outlaw on Top!**

"GET UP ALREADY!"

"Not yet..."

"NOW!"

"Okay... now leave me alone!" Peach was as grumpy as usual when it came to waking up in the morning. It has been a few days since their first mission, and Peach and Mario were doing great. The hardest part was always in the morning, it was so boring. Especially those five long minutes before they get missions. Team Pokecuties is about to get another mission in a new mystery dungeon, but this mission was not really assigned to them by Wigglytuff...

"Team Pokecuties, can you go out into Treasure Town and ask if Kecleon has any perfect apples in stock?" Wigglytuff asked.

"Is that ALL we have to do today?!" Peach wanted to go into a mystery dungeon badly.

"Yes, that is all you need to do," he responded.

"Lets get this over with..."

---------

**At Kecleon's shop in Treasure Town**

"I'm sorry, but there are no more perfect apples in stock," Kecleon told Peach.

"Let's report back to the guild..." Peach said to Mario, pulling him by the tail, but she stopped when an Azurill and a Marill stopped by the shop.

"Excuse me, have you seen our water float anywhere?" he asked Kecleon.

"No, I haven't..." A Drowzee appeared out of nowhere for no reason at all.

"I saw your water float somewhere in Mt. Bristle, I can take you there if you want," Drowzee told Azurill.

"Really?" He said, excited.

"Yes, if you want it, come with me, okay?" Drowzee walked away with Azurill, but Azurill dropped an apple after one second of walking.

"Let me get that for you, Azurill," Peach tried to pick the apple up, but when she touched it, her head started hurting, her vision blurred, she got dizzy, and finally she started to hear a familiar voice...

"**Help!"**

"That voice sounds like Azurill!" Peach shouted when she returned to normal.

"What? I didn't hear anything, it's just your imagination, Peach," Mario picked up the apple and soon, both pairs of Pokemon were heading out of Treasure Town, but Drowzee tripped and bumped into Peach, which made her have the same pain as when she touched the apple, but this time her vision was completely gone, and she could only see the peak of Mt. Bristle with Azurill and Drowzee on it.

**Drowzee: If you don't do what I ask there will be trouble for you.**

**Azurill:Help!**

"That was Azurill's voice again, but this time I heard Drowzee..." Peach murmured. Azurill and Drowzee were already out of sight when Peach had returned to normal. Mario and Peach started walking towards the guild five minutes later.

---

**At the Guild!**

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff has decided to give you a mission from the outlaw board today, so here are today's outlaw missions," Chatot pointed to the outlaw posters on the red board. Peach noticed one particular poster and started staring at it in shock. It was a poster of Drowzee!

"Mario! We need to head to Mt. Bristle! Azurill's in danger!" Peach pulled Mario by the tail.

"I can walk on my own..." Peach was still dragging the poor Pikachu by his bolt shaped tail.

**Mt. Bristle B1F**

When they got into the dungeon, they saw a Machop lifting a Geodude.

"Intruder alert! Prepare to attack!" Machop threw the Geodude he was lifting at Peach. Peach caught it, threw it at Machop's head and knocked both Geodude and Machop out.

A Doduo spawned behind Mario and started pecking at his head while a Spinark was biting at his feet and a Starly hit his butt with her wings. Mario used thunder shock which made the pests get out of his personal space. They had an easy time until they got to the fourth floor where they saw a Nidorina and a Nidorino making out. Both Mario and Peach barfed on the floor.

"Eww..."

"I am NEVER doing that..." Leaving that behind them, they made it to the tenth floor, which was the top of Mt. Bristle.

**Mt. Bristle Peak**

"Where's the water float Mr. Drowzee? " Azurill asked when they came to the end of the dungeon.

"Your water float is not here; I lied to you. The real reason I brought you here is I have a favor to ask of you," Drowzee had an evil smile on his face.

"W-what!? What favor?" Azurill was scared

"Do you see that hole over there, there is supposed to be a lot of treasure in there, but I am too big to fit in that little hole. That's where you come in! You are small enough to fit in that hole and get the loot for me!" Drowzee looked terrifying.

"What if I don't want to?" Azurill asked.

"If you don't do what I ask there will be trouble for you," Drowzee responded.

"Help!" Azurill screamed at the top of his tiny lungs, assuming he has lungs. Peach and Mario heard the whole thing.

"Hold it right there Drowzee!" Peach shouted, trying to sound as heroic as she could.

"Let Azurill go, you crook!" Mario shouted after Peach.

"What are you guys, the police?" Drowzee looked at them with disgust.

"No, we are team Pokecuties, normal rank! Let Azurill go back home, you dirty outlaw!" Peach shouted even louder.

"Make me!" Drowzee intimidated Peach, triggering a boss battle in the process.

**Five minutes later...**

"Peach! No! We almost had him! Get up!" Mario and Peach almost lost the battle. Almost.

"I'm fine, Mario. It can't end like this. I wont let it end right now!" Peach started glowing blue as she got up. All of her scratches seemed to vanish.

"What?!"

"Bubble... Beam!" The bubbles coming from her beak were much bigger and they were glowing. They all hit Drowzee, defeating him.

"Thank you team Pokecuties!" Azurill thanked them.

"Let's get you back to Treasure Town," the trio went back to Treasure Town where they were rewarded for their efforts.

**Treeshroud Forest**

"Finally, I found it. The first time gear," Grovyle stared at the time gear and he started pretending Peach was there with him. "Peach, this is where I first met you, right? This is also where I lied to you. I lied about not knowing anyone else with the dimensional scream. The truth is, I met you two days after he was killed by Dusknoir and his Sableye. "He" was the person I knew had the dimensional scream. His name was Shinji. I remember the time he was killed clearly. There was so much blood. It was so scary. I wonder what would have happened if he was with me when I met you? I think you would have gotten along with him. Now that I look back, it would have been better to tell you you about him. Why did I lie anyway?" Grovyle took the time gear and ran out of the forest as time stopped behind him.

**Back at the guild!**

It was dinnertime when Chatot made the announcement.

"Treeshroud forest's time gear has been stolen!" By the look on his face, it was not good news.

"What is a time gear, anyway?" Peach asked.

"Time gears keep time going, so if a time gear is stolen; time stops in that area. In Treeshroud forest, time is stopped right now. Any other questions?" Chatot explained. There were no more interruptions for the rest of the night, but Mario had a dream where donuts were raining from the sky...

**That's the end of the chapter!**

**Please review this chapter! Please tell me about any mistakes I make, too!**


	8. Chapter 8 The Title does not fit!

**Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo!**

**Chapter 8:**

**The Riolu called Shinji!**

It has been three days since the incident at Mt. Bristle, and things were back to normal. However, the peace would not last long.

"THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!" The morning cheers had just ended when Chatot forced Mario and Peach to do sentry duty.

"So, we need to go down this hole?"

"Yup," Chatot said. Peach and Mario quickly went down the hole on the bottom floor.

"It's dark in here!" Mario was his usual cowardly self

"At least I can see the footprints better... That's a Squirtle up there," Peach identified the tiny turtle-like Pokemon.

"YOU CAN ENTER, SQIRTLE!" Loudred opened the door for him. Peach continued her excellent performance until she identified the sixth Pokemon. It was a Riolu, but it was not a normal one. It clutched its chest in pain, but there were no visible scratches on him. It stood on the grate long enough for Peach to let it in, but it yelped in pain and would not go inside. It finally entered the building when Peach and Mario helped it go inside.

"My name is Shinji. I used to be a human, but I can't remember anything from my past. Worst of all, I have these weird pains in my chest," He explained to Wigglytuff.

"Why don't you join our exploration team, Shinji? I also was a human, like you. Maybe if we work together, we can find out why we're Pokemon! What do you think of it, Shinji? Let's find out about our past, together. You, Me, and Mario will make the perfect team!" Peach offered. Shinji nodded, and soon he got his own badge. The dinner bell rang and the trio rushed into the mess hall.

"So, you're also a human?" Shinji said to Peach with his mouth full of apples.

"Yes, but I don't clutch my chest in pain every half hour," She exaggerated. Dinner was soon over and team Pokecuties turned in for the night.As Shinji was sleeping, his chest started to hurt as he started to dream.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Shinji's dream**

**A Grovyle and a young boy with brown eyes, black hair, and a red hat are tied to two separate pillars surrounded by six Sableye and a Dusknoir. The Dusknoir laughed evilly as the Sableye prepared to KILL both the young boy and the Grovyle with their claws.**

**"Finally! I finally captured you two brats! It's too bad this young lad's life is going to end early. He had a whole life ahead of him, but he made the fatal mistake of helping you try to change things here! Now all the people he knew and loved are dead! You know, if you two never met; he would never have to be killed along with his friends and family. You can't change fate, Grovyle! This is the end!" He said before ordering his Sableye to execute the two prisoners. They started to scratch at the ropes aiming for their chests. For a spit second, the ropes broke while the Sableye were not yet at their skin. Grovyle took this chance to attack and escape. However, the boy was not so lucky. The Sableye scratched at his body so much that he died from loss of blood. The Grovyle was forced to abandon his partner and flee.**

**---------------------------------------**

The pain in Shinji's chest settled down for the rest of the night. He was unaware of the fact that the dream was once real. Unaware of the boy's identity. He had no idea about the adventures that lay ahead of him.

**I'm not good at writing long chapters...**

**Please review! Don't go too hard, it's only my first fanfiction.**


	9. Chapter 9 Into the waterfall!

**Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine! Nintendo owns Pokemon. **

**Chapter 9:**

**Into the Waterfall!**

It's been a while since Shinji joined, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Recently, our heroes went up to the bronze rank. Peach quickly noticed something about the upgraded badge.

"Hey, if this is the bronze rank, why is the center of the badge green?! Shouldn't it be called the emerald rank instead of the bronze rank?" She questioned. The dinner bell rang a few seconds later. After dinner, they rushed to their rooms to go to bed.

"I'm tired of exploring the same exact three dungeons every day. Hopefully, we'll get a new dungeon tomorrow..." With that said by Mario, they all drifted off to sleep.

**The Next Morning!**

"You wet the bed AGAIN?! This is the sixth time this week! You have got to stop doing that, missy," Loudred screamed at Peach, for the sixth time that week. To avoid Loudred, they ran past him to do the morning cheers. After the cheers, as Peach was looking for a job in a dungeon, Chatot stopped her.

"I didn't give you an assignment yet, Peach. I was going to give you a special mission today to explore a strange waterfall, but if you don't want to..." Chatot got her attention.

"A new mystery dungeon?! Really?! Thank you!!" Peach hugged Chatot tightly for five seconds.

"I could barely breathe! Did your respect fly out the window or something?! Anyway, we don't know if it's a mystery dungeon or not yet, so don't get your hopes up," Chatot said after being released. He soon noticed Peach had left, dragging Mario and Shinji by their tails.

**The Secret waterfall**

They came to a gigantic waterfall that looked nearly impossible to cross. Not noticing it looked "impossible to cross" part of the previous sentence, Mario walked into the waterfall, but he was pushed back by the strong current.

"Wow! That's a huge waterfall! The current's way too strong for us to cross!" Mario exclaimed.

"And how many seconds did it take for you to realize that?" Peach asked.

"About sixty," Mario said.

"I didn't expect you to answer that. Changing the subject, since I am a water type, I will try to pass the waterfall next," Peach walked into the waterfall, but like Mario, she was pushed away by the current. Also, she started having what she called a "dizzy spell," which was the feeling she got when she picked up the apple and bumped into Drowzee. When she temporarily lost her sight, she had a vision where a shadowy Pokemon jumped into the waterfall and landed in a cave. When the "dizzy spell" was over, she suggested doing the same thing as the shadow thing in her vision.

"I think we should jump into the waterfall at full speed," She suggested to the two boys who had already given up trying to get past the waterfall. Mario and Shinji both agreed eagerly.

"Ok! I have faith in you, Peach! Let's discover the secrets of this waterfall!" They promptly ran and jumped into the waterfall and came into a cave, just like in Peach's vision.

**Waterfall Cave**

When they entered the mystery dungeon, Mario and Shinji couldn't stop looking at a big-eyed golden Poliwag, which was definitely not natural. Peach noticed that it was just a normal Poliwag with a strange paint job. Peach quickly felt a hate for the Poliwag.

"Who are you?!" Peach asked the strange Pokemon.

"Isn't it obvious?! I'm Mary Sue! I have no memory of my past! I'm smarter and cuter than anyone! I also know every move in existence! Even better, my moves NEVER miss! Did I mention how many boys like me? I have NO flaws!" She started to blab about stuff nobody really wants to hear. Peach's rage just kept on building, and the Poliwag's blabbing did not help, it made her even angrier.

"SHUT UP!" Peach slapped the unnatural Pokemon in the face. What followed was an was a short fight which Peach barely won. The Poliwag exploded into a blast of rainbow sparkles from a strange bomb, and what was left was a surprisingly male Poliwag. Peach had hurt him real bad because scratches were visible everywhere.

Peach was was shocked, she thought Poliwag was a girl. "What!? She's a he!? What's going on here!?" Peach screamed

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I just like to pretend to be a girl! I'll lead you to the giant gem in the back of the cave if you forgive me! " Poliwag kneeled down to Peach, screaming.

"Fine! You can help us get to the big gem, but first get off of me!" She said with an annoyed tone. Then she forcefully shoved the Poliwag away from her. Poliwag showed them around the cave, and he was useful because no Pokemon attacked them. While walking, he got into a small fight with Shinji .

"You know how lucky you are to have a girl like Peach on your team, right?" Poliwag asked while blushing. Shinji noticed this and made a small joke.

"You like her, don't you, Poliwag?"

"I... I didn't say that! I meant she's a really good leader! Besides, I already have a girlfriend!" Poliwag's blue body became red with embarrassment. They didn't talk to each other until they reached their destination. "Well, here's the big gem I was talking about. Good luck getting it out of the ground..."

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Shinji asked.

"I have no arms, that's why! Why don't you try to get the gem out, stupid," Poliwag said, still angry about how Shinji had treated him. Shinji tried to pull out the giant gem and failed.

"I can't get it out! Mario, why don't you try to get it out?" Shinji walked back to where Poliwag and Peach were. Strangely, Shinji got a "dizzy spell" with a chest pain bonus and saw a familiar figure push the big gem, only to be washed away by a huge wave right after. Shinji was about to tell Mario NOT to push the gem, but he was too late. Mario had just pushed it!

"Shinji, before we die, I want to tell you something; I don't actually have a girlfriend," Poliwag stated the obvious as they were about to be thrown out of the cave. Good luck was on their side again because they were sent flying by the water and landed in a hot spring. All four of them were knocked out by the water, so they were surprised when they found out that they were in a hot spring.

"Where are we?" Mario finally spoke. Besides team Pokecuties and Poliwag, there was a few Mankey and an elderly Torkoal.

"You're in the hot spring, young lad!" The Torkoal announced.

"But we were just in waterfall cave! How did we get here, anyway? The last thing I remember was being knocked out by a huge wave and then.. we were here," Mario said, confused.

"Well, nothing you can do about it now! Why don't you rest here before you head home?" Team Pokecuties decided to take a rest before heading home like elder suggested.

**Back at the guild!**

"Um, I was wondering if I could join your team since I-" Poliwag was soon rudely interrupted by Shinji.

" Since I don't have a girlfriend and I really like Peach," Shinji said jokingly. He was really surprised when Poliwag nodded.

"Well isn't that nice! Now it's a good time to tell you about my new service, the Chimecho Assembly!" Chimecho immediately explained her new service and told them that Shinji, Mario, and Peach were permanent members of team Pokecuties and could not be removed from the active team while Poliwag can be put on standby. Chatot soon noticed they were back and asked them about the exploration. Mario told him about what they had found. Chatot praised them for their discovery, but both Peach and Shinji had an uneasy feeling. After thinking about the shadow in their vision, they realized it was Wigglytuff!

"Chatot, could you please ask the guild master if he has been there before?" Peach blurted out.

"What?! If he had been there before, he wouldn't have sent you there in the first place!" Chatot shouted.

"Please ask him," She said quickly.

"Fine, I will confirm with the guild master that he has certainly not been there before," Chatot went into the guild master's room. Five minutes later he came out and said EXACTLY what Wigglytuff had said. Basically, Wigglytuff really had explored the cave before them. At hearing this Peach got extremely angry and shouted "RIP OFF ARTIST" really loud. Then the whole entire guild ran away into the recently opened Spinda's cafe. Later that night when everybody was back Wigglytuff told them they were nominated for the big expedition. Only time would tell if they were to be picked.

**Ok... I was a little bit lazy there. Please review! Please don't flame, but constructive criticism is welcome! Thank you! **


	10. Chapter 10 Team Skull

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon and I never will. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo**

**Chapter 10: Team Skull and Apple Woods**

"UGH! The SMELL'S getting WORSE every DAY!" Loudred covered his nose as he tried to wake Shinji, Peach, and Mario up.

"Get used to it," Peach said as she woke up with the other two members of her team. Peach sneezed and wiped her beak with her flipper while they were walking out of their room.

"THREE! SMILES GO FOR-" Peach let out a loud sneeze that interrupted the morning cheers.

"Sorry, I think a have a cold," Peach wiped her beak again. Pretending nothing happened, everyone continued the morning cheers.

"Team Pokecuties! Today I want you to take jobs from the job bulletin board. Got that? Okay! Off you go!" Chatot called to them as they were about to leave. This time as they were about to go look at the available jobs, Mario noticed that Koffing and Zubat were also looking at the bulletin board.

"Koffing! Zubat too! What are you two doing here?!" Mario said, surprised.

"Hey! If it isn't that wimp Mario and his GIRLFRIEND!" Zubat taunted.

"Wimps? I think not! We beat you easily in Beach Cave!" Mario said back.

"That victory was a FLUKE! You only won because your GIRLFRIEND almost killed me, but if our chief was there she'd be snapped like a twig!" Koffing retorted.

"Your chief?" Shinji asked.

"Yup! He's stronger than all three of you combined! In matter of fact, I can smell him coming!" Zubat said proudly.

"Smell?" Mario said. A Skuntank came down the ladder and walked in front of Peach.

"You! Out of the way!" Skuntank let out a horrible smell which he hoped would knock her out, but it didn't. Peach sniffled and farted loudly.

"Eek! I don't know which one smells worse!" Sunflora tried her best to cover her invisible nose.

"Those smells sure are foul, yup yup," Bidoof covered his visible nose.

"Hey hey! My eyes are burning! Hey hey!" Corphish also covered his invisible nose. Basically, everyone covered their noses, except Peach. Peach pushed Koffing and Zubat out of the way and took a few jobs in Waterfall Cave.

**The next day!**

Before the morning cheers, Chatot had an announcement to make.

"Ahem! Today I would like you to meet our new allies! They are not joining us as apprentices, but they will be joining us on the expedition. For the next few days, they will be living with us, " Skuntank, Koffing, and Zubat came down the ladder. They introduced themselves as team skull.

"Come on! Do we REALLY have to work with THESE guys?!" Peach shouted the first of many complaints. Upon hearing these complaints, Wigglytuff started to get angry.

"YOOM..." The ground started shaking violently.

"Oh no! The guildmaster's rage is building! Show some enthusiasm even it hurts!" Chatot said in a panic.

"HOORAY!" They all shouted to calm down Wigglytuff. He calmed down, saving everyone from ultimate doom. They soon went to work.

**That Night!**

In the middle of the night, team skull was at the food supply.

"That was nice grub, but I'm still hungry. Chief, let's have a feast!" Zubat and his friends raided the food supply.

**The next day!**

After the morning cheers, Chatot had a different assignment for team Pokecuties.

"Today, I would like you to refill the larder," Chatot requested

"The larder? You mean the food supply?" Mario inquired.

"Yes, apparently someone raided it last night. I need you to go to Apple Woods and fetch some perfect apples," Chatot said.

"What are perfect apples?" Peach asked.

"Perfect apples are the Guildmaster's favorite food. If he didn't have any he would... Urk! Yes, that's what would happen," Chatot explained.

"What did he say?" Shinji whispered into Mario's ear. Mario just shrugged his shoulders.

"What are you are doing just standing here? Off you go!" Team Pokecuties went off on their errand. Little did they know, they were being followed by team skull.

**Somewhere in Apple Woods!**

Apple Woods was a mystery dungeon. On about the second to last floor, after beating a Butterfree, he asked to join the team!

"Pochama! Wait! Please let me join your team!" He begged.

"P-Pochama?! That's not my name! It's Peach!" Peach said in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"Okay, Pichi-chan!" He said. Peach decided to accept him, even though he obviously didn't say her name right.

**The bottom of Apple Woods!**

They came to a huge tree full of perfect apples.

"Wow! Look at all of those apples! They look so yummy, but how do we get them down?" Mario stared at the tree.

"Chaw-haw-haw! That's simple!" Team skull jumped out of the tree. Skuntank banged his head against the tree a few times, shaking the apples off the tree. "Come on, take them!" Mario took a close look at the apples.

"Hey! I bet you're trying to trick us, aren't you!" Mario said.

"Chief! They didn't even fall for it!" Zubat said.

"Chaw-haw-haw! I'd admit that the wimp is smart, but can he knock us out fair and square? I don't think so!" Skuntank said. Mario paused.

"Of course we can! We're not going to lose to you crooks!" Shinji shouted.

"Fine! Here's our noxious gas combo!" Koffing and Skuntank stood in front of them and they both sprayed a cloud of gas that knocked team Pokecuties out instantly. When they woke up, all of the apples were gone and Zubat was left behind by his teammates.

"Chief! Wait for me!" Zubat flew out of the woods to look for the rest of his team while team Pokecuties reported to the guild.

**Back at the guild! **

"Oh no! Oh no! What should I do!? You three! You're going without dinner for the time being!" Chatot said angrily.

"But team skull-" Mario tried to explain.

"No buts! After dinner you are coming with me to report to the Guildmaster. I don't want to face his wrath on my own," Chatot interrupted. At dinner, all three of them watched as team skull and the rest of the apprentices ate their dinners.

"So hungry..." Mario said as he watched the others eat. After dinner, they went to see the Guildmaster with Chatot.

"Yay! Yay! Perfect apples! You came to bring me perfect apples, right?" Wigglytuff jumped around with happiness.

"Um, no. Team Pokecuties failed to get any Perfect apples." Chatot said regretfully.

"Oh, where are the other apples?" Wigglytuff still looked hopeful.

"There are no apples. The number of apples harvested was zero. You'll have to live without perfect apples for a while. Hee! Hee hee!" Chatot made the situation a lot worse than it already was.

"Wah... Waaah!" Wigglytuff started to cry. The ground started shaking violently, and this time, everything was exploding!

"Quickly! Hide!" Chatot screamed. Just when all hope was lost, team skull came in with a perfect apple. Skuntank gave the perfect apple to Wigglytuff, and he finally calmed down. Peach was too angry to stay in the room any longer, so she dragged her teammates to their bedroom by their tails.

**Limestone Cave**

"Finally! I found the second time gear! Only two more to-" Grovyle was about to take a time gear when he heard a faint cry.

"h-help.." A human was hanging onto a rock for dear life. Her skin was extremely pale, her eyes were reddish pink, and her hair was white. Mistaking her for Peach, he saved her before she drowned. When she was out of the water, he noticed that the human wasn't Peach. He had rescued a woman who looked old enough to be her mother. "Thank you. I should introduce myself. My name is Himeka," She said.

"It's too dangerous for a human like you to be here. If I were you, I would leave this place immediately and find a place to stay," Grovyle said.

"Where should I go anyway?" Himeka asked. Grovyle paused for a moment.

"I'll let you travel with me, but this is only because you have nowhere else to go," Grovyle soon had to explain what was going on to Himeka, but he never mentioned Peach. "After I take the time gear, you need to hold onto me tight, okay?" Grovyle took the time gear and dashed off with Himeka out of the Limestone Cave.

**Back at the guild a few days later!**

"Ahem, today I would like to introduce two new apprentices! I'd like you to meet, team Ai!" Chatot announced after the morning cheers. An Eevee and a Torchic climbed down the ladder.

"Hi! I'm Alice!" The Eevee said.

"And I'm May!" The Torchic said right after her.

"And together we are... Team Ai!" They shouted together. Peach took a quick look at the team's leader, Alice, and suddenly had a strange desire to do everything better than her team. With a new rival at the guild, will team Pokecuties even have a chance at being picked for the big expedition?

**Okay! That's the end of this chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Just don't flame me, please.**


	11. Chapter 11 The big expedition

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo.**

**Chapter 11: **

**The Big Exploration Finally Begins!**

"RISE and SHINE! It's MORNING!" Loudred woke Peach, Mario, and Shinji up like he did everyday. Today was the day the expedition members were to be chosen.

"That stupid Loudred. If I could attack him without getting punished, I'd show him that waking up a girl like me is huge mistake!" Peach muttered to herself when Loudred left the room.

"I'm nervous. I don't know if we're going to be chosen or not. The chances of us going are pretty slim since we failed to bring the perfect apples to Wigglytuff and also..." Mario never a got a chance to finish his sentence.

"Ack! We're going to be late!" Peach grabbed both of her teammate's tails and ran to where the morning address was.

"Team Pokecuties! You're late! What were you doing?! Anyway, the exploration members have been chosen!" Chatot said.

"HOORAY!!" All the apprentices cheered. Five minutes later, Chatot started reading the list. Among the chosen were Bidoof, Loudred, Dugtrio, team Ai, and not team Pokecuties.

"And that's everyone!" Chatot said after reading the list.

"We didn't get to go after all..." Shinji sighed.

"Wait a minute, what's this?!" Chatot noticed some hard to read words at the bottom of the list and read them out loud. "What?! That means... The whole guild is going on the exploration!" Chatot was shocked. The words on the bottom of the list were the names of the apprentices that he did not call out before! "What's the meaning of this?!" Chatot said.

"If the whole guild goes it'll be more fun!" Wigglytuff said happily.

"If everyone's going, there will be nobody to watch the guild," Skuntank said.

"We'll lock up properly," Wigglytuff said. Chatot soon told everyone to get ready for the expedition.

When they got to Treasure Town, Peach immediately went to the Duskull bank.

"Peach, if you deposit all of our money here, we won't have any money to spend!" Shinji told Peach after she made her deposit.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of stuff in storage, remember? Besides, if any of us faint in a dungeon we'd lose all of our money anyway!" Peach responded.

"Uh, Peach..." Mario tried to tell her something.

"What is it?" Peach wanted to know what he was about to say.

"Actually, if we faint we only lose HALF of our money now," Mario informed her.

"Sweet! Thank you, magical forces from another dimension!" Peach said. She and her friends went to the storage to take out some items. "I never thought I needed this until now," She said as she took out a pink bow.

"W-where did that come from?!" Mario said, surprised.

"This is the bow we got when we started the exploration team. The author failed to mention that it was there," Peach said while tying the bow around her neck. When they finally finished preparing for the trip, they went back to the guild to tell Chatot that they were ready.

"That's great! Now everyone's ready!" Peach never paid attention to what Chatot said next. While Chatot explained the plan for the big expedition, Peach was staring at the ceiling. She did her best to not pay attention to what he was saying until he announced the groups. "And team Pokecuties will go with Bidoof." Those words made Peach hate Chatot ten times more than she already did.

"I HATE YOU CHATOT!" She screamed out loud, but everyone ignored her. Peach stopped paying attention to what Chatot said after that. This was the just the beginning of a long expedition.

**Sorry that this was short! I'm getting a new computer in a few days, and I don't know how to transfer files... Anyway, please review! The next chapter will be longer!**


	12. Chapter 12 Troubles with Bidoof and more

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing! Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. Why am I doing this again?**

**Chapter 12:**

**Troubles with Bidoof and more!**

Soon after Chatot finished talking, everyone started the big expedition. Peach and her teammates walked until they reached the entrance to a mystery dungeon on a cliff near the ocean.

"Okay, so first, we need to reach base camp. To do that, we should go thorough here, and here," Mario said while pointing to a few locations on their map.

"That sounds splendid, yup yup!" Bidoof agreed. _Wow, Mario's really acting like a leader now! When I first met him, he was an over-exaggerated coward! He's changed a lot lately, _ Peach thought.

"Hey! There's two tunnels here! Peach, which path should we take? Side Path or Craggy Coast?" Shinji asked her after observing the entrance.

"Let's go to Side Path!" Peach told him.

"Ok, team! Let's roll out!" Mario said as the team entered the dungeon.

**Five minutes of exploring later...**

Peach and her team cleared the dungeon just to come back where they started.

"That was useless," Shinji was the first to speak.

"Okay! Let's go to Craggy Coast!" Mario said before they went to the other dungeon.

**One minute of exploring later...**

"Bidoof! You are the most useless Pokemon on earth! Why can't you be a good teammate and stay out of trouble," Peach screamed at Bidoof after he was defeated and made the team lose half their money and some of their items.

"Hey! You don't have to be so mean..." Bidoof told her.

"It's okay, Bidoof. She's like this all the time. She probably didn't mean it," Mario tried to comfort him. Soon after, they went back into Craggy Coast.

**Ten minutes of exploring later...**

"Arrrgh! You can't do anything right!" Peach was on the verge of wanting to attack Bidoof because he was defeated and cost her team items and money, again. After a few more words of encouragement from Mario, they went back into the dungeon. However, twenty minutes later, Bidoof was defeated again.

"That's it! I've had enough of you!" Peach lunged at Bidoof and prepared to hit him with peck. Bidoof would have been hit with her attack if Mario hadn't intervened.

"Peach! Stop right now!" Mario stood in front of Bidoof, trying to protect him. When Peach noticed him, she stopped in her tracks.

"I-I meant to do that! Really! " She said and walked away. Mario just stood there, surprised. He had never seen her act this way before. To him, she was acting a little out of character. A few minutes later, Peach came back, acting like nothing had ever happened. After a few very unimportant minutes, they went back into Craggy Coast. Lucky for them, they had no problems clearing the dungeon this time around.

They came out of Craggy Coast only to find that they had to go thorough another mystery dungeon. They were about to go into the dungeon called Mt. Horn when everyone's stomachs started to rumble at the same time.

"All that exploring made me hungry! Why don't we stay here for the night and resume exploring tomorrow?" Mario said, tired from exploring Craggy Coast. Everyone agreed to what he said.

The next day, Mario woke up to find Peach depositing her pink bow at the nearest Kangaskan Rock. A Kangaskan Rock lets exploration teams manage their storage and make a record of their progress.

"Peach, why are you doing that? You're going to need that later, trust me." He asked her as she dropped her bow into the Kangaskan shaped rock. She stared at him for a moment as she thought of an answer. She didn't know what to say.

"There's no real reason. There's just this nagging feeling in the back of my head that if I don't put this into storage, I'd lose it in the next hour or so," She explained while not putting much thought into her words. Little did she know, putting the pink bow into storage was the right thing to do because something terrible was going to happen to their items in the next hour!

"I was right! Wait, What?" When they got into the dungeon, there was a Kecleon shop. It had plenty of nice items like wonder orbs. Peach decided to buy them all, but she couldn't afford them. When asked to pay for them she simply said she didn't have enough.

"Thief! Thief! Help me stop the thief!" The shopkeeper shouted. The shopkeeper soon began to move at the speed of light.

"Wow, that's fast!" Shinji said, amazed. A few seconds later, the Kecleon attacked and defeated the whole team in one hit. When the team was at the entrance, Peach decided to check the treasure bag.

"What the heck? All of our items are plain seeds!" She cried when she saw the transformed items. She put the seeds in storage and took better items out and put them into the bag without saying much. When she was ready, they went back in and had no trouble clearing it in no time. When they finally got to base camp, Chatot was waiting for them with everyone else.

"You're late! Everyone else got here a long time ago!" He shouted. Peach was angry at him like usual, but she didn't say anything. "Go set your equipment down! Hurry!" Peach set her things down quickly. "Okay, everyone's here. Let's do a strategy briefing." Everyone except Peach and Shinji went ahead to do the strategy briefing.

"Huh? What's wrong? Something bothering you two?" Mario asked. Both Shinji and Peach had nagging feelings in the back of their heads that they had been there before. "Come on, let's go!" The whole team then went ahead to the briefing.

"Attention please!" Chatot got everyone's attention, including Peach, "It appears that everyone's here, safe and sound. Although, some came later than others," Chatot looked at Team Pokecuties, "As you can see, we are in a forested area. Fogbound Lake is obviously concealed within this forest. So far, this lake has not been discovered." Chatot was interrupted by Corphish.

"Hey hey hey!" Everyone turned and looked at him, "Hey hey! Is it really there, or what! This Fogbound Lake?"

"Silly Corphish," Sunflora said, "You'll ruin the dream if you say that."

"Yeah, don't spoil things right now!" Loudred agreed with her. Corphish stayed quiet.

"Um, may I?" Chimecho said, "While we were traveling, I heard of a legend," Chimecho continued, "A legend about Fogbound Lake," mysterious music played in the background, " The legend says that Fogbound Lake is home to a Pokemon called Uxie. Uxie is said to be very rare. It is said to others wipe memories clean by locking eyes with them," Peach and Shinji were surprised at what she had said because they both had amnesia, "That is why, if travelers were to come upon Fogbound lake, Uxie would wipe their memories clean... and muzzle the travelers from revealing the existence of Fogbound Lake," Chimecho said, "And that is how Uxie protects Fogbound Lake," Everyone panicked about having their memories erased by Uxie.

"Ahem. You should realize that places like this always have a legend attached to them. Our guild has overcome difficult challenges and obstacles when conducting explorations." Chatot said. Everyone agreed with him.

"Ha ha ha! Don't worry! Everything is going to be alright!" Wigglytuff said, "Let's believe in success for this adventure and... Let's try! Let's try!" Chatot looked around and continued talking.

"Let's move on with our plan," He explained the plan to everyone. Chatot and Wigglytuff would stay at the base camp to gather intelligence from their teams in the field. Everyone else would explore the forest, which was very foggy. Then they would have to find a way to lift the fog. When they did that, they would tell Chatot at the base camp. Peach and Shinji thought about the legend and somehow got the idea that Uxie might have something to do with their memory loss. After a few more minutes of cutscene goodness, Team Pokecuties minus Bidoof finally set out to explore the forest.

"Okay team, which path should we take? Forrest Path or Foggy Forrest?" Mario asked.

"Mario, this isn't a game! Remember what happened when we took Side Path yesterday? No more paths! They'll get us nowhere!" Shinji said. Peach cast an aside glance at the computer screen.

"Okay, let's go to Foggy Forest!" Mario walked ahead while his two teammates decided to do more thinking. "Huh? What's this thing?" Peach and Shinji walked up to him and saw that he found a strange red stone, "It looks like some kind of rock. It is red and pretty. It's more like a gem," Mario picked it up, "Wow! It's warm! It's like heat is coming from the stone! It's not lava, so what is it? I'll keep it because it might be rare. Okay, team! Let's roll out!" They went inside the dungeon.

**Foggy Forest 1F**

As Chatot had said earlier, the forrest was shrouded in fog. There were plenty of Pokemon for the team to beat up and many items to pick up. Peach knew that going thorough this mystery dungeon would be easy.

**Skipping to the end...**

When they finally got out of the dungeon, they came to two waterfalls.

"The fog is so thick, I can't tell which way to go." Mario said.

"Hey hey hey!" A voice sounded in the distance.

"Oh! There's Corphish! Hi, Corphish!" Peach shouted. They went to where he was.

"Hey hey! You three find any clues?" He asked.

"Nah, just fog, fog, and even more fog. How about you, Corphish?" Shinji reported their progress.

"I've got nothing here either. Sorry to disappoint you guys," Corphish said, "But there is something interesting here."

"Interesting?" Mario was kind of confused. Corphish turned around.

"It's there. Take a look for yourself," Corphish walked over to a strange statue that looked like a Pokemon. Shinji, Peach, and Mario followed him.

"What? What's this?" Peach shouted.

"I don't know. It seems to be a statue of a Pokemon." He said.

"But what Pokemon is it?" Peach asked. Corphish said that he hadn't seen a Pokemon like that before. Mario walked up to it and looked around until he came to an inscription.

"Is there something inscribed here?" Mario said to himself loudly. The others also came to look. "It's in footprint runes. Let me read it..." Mario read the footprint runes. It said "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon. Then the sky will blaze with the sun's heat. The path to treasure will be revealed. "The path to treasure? How incredible!" Mario exclaimed, "Oh, Peach! Treasure! Could this mean the treasure of Fogbound Lake? The secret to finding Fogbound lake could be right here!"

"Hey hey hey! Y-you think so?" Corphish asked, "Hey hey! Now that's a mystery we've got to solve!"

"This part of the footprint runes... This part about 'life that burned within Groudon.' What's this about?" Mario wondered, "So this 'Groudon,' is it this statue?"

"Hey hey! So we're supposed to what, ignite the life that was in this statue?"

"Yeah, but how do we do that? Hmm..."

"How about we set it on fire?" Peach joked.

"No, that's not right. What to do..." Mario said, "Huh? Wait a second! I know! Peach, touch this statue! That'll tell us what to do!" Mario had an idea.

"Fine..." Peach touched the statue.

"See anything?" Mario asked. Soon after, the dizzy spell started. _Oh, crud. I hate this part,_ Peach thought. This time, she only heard a voice.

**That's it! It's here!**

_What the heck was that? I've never heard that voice before,_ Peach thought when another dizzy spell started, _ Not again! _

**I see! Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart! That lifts the fog! Good job, partner!**

_T-that voice again! Whose voice is it anyway? It really bugs me... _Peach was deep in thought.

"Did you see something?" Mario asked her. Peach thought a little more. _That voice said "Place the Drought Stone is Groudon's heart. That lifts the fog!" Wait a minute! I don't know what the Drought Stone is! What is it? Maybe it's that stone Mario found! _Peach walked over to the front of the statue. _Oh! There's a hollow in the statue! I've got to tell the others!_ "Did you find something, Peach?" Mario asked. Peach told him everything. "You mean the red stone I found? You want me to stick it into Groudon's chest?" Peach nodded. Mario stuck the stone into the statue's chest. Suddenly, the statue's eyes started glowing red and the ground rumbled ferociously. "W-watch out everyone!" Everyone ran away from the Groudon statue. Then there was a harsh glow and they were all knocked out. When they woke up, the fog was gone.

"The fog's gone, and the sunlight's harsh!" Peach stated the obvious.

"Hey! All three of you! Look up!" Mario noticed something. Everyone looked upwards.

"Hey hey! What is that!" Corphish said.

"This is what the fog was hiding! Fogbound lake is up there!" Shinji said in amazement.

"It's no wonder that Fogbound lake hasn't been discovered yet. We were just wandering in circles the whole time." Peach said.

"Hey, hey! This is no time to be gawking! I'll let everyone in the guild know! You three go on ahead!" Corphish went back to the base camp.

"Okay, you heard him! Let's go!" Peach said. Mario and Shinji felt their tails being grabbed.

"Peach, you know that I can walk on my own, right?" Mario said. Peach promptly let go of his tail and Shinji's. They were about to go on ahead when they heard a voice from close by.

"Hold it!" Team Skull walked in from the left and infront of Team Pokecuties.

"Oh, it's the goldfish poop gang," Peach said.

"Good job! Chaw-haw-haw!" Skuntank said.

"Whoa-ho-ho! You solved the mystery. You're no longer of use to us!" Koffing said.

"Heh-heh-heh. We'll swipe the treasure thanks to you idiots." Zubat said.

"You fiends!" Shinji shouted, "So that's why you joined the expedition! You planned this all along!"

"Whoa-ho-ho! You expected anything less?" Koffing laughed again.

"Chaw-haw-haw! Sorry but... we're going to get rid of you right now," Skuntank said.

"We'll make you eat those words!" Peach shouted, "We'll stop you from getting to Fogbound Lake! I'll beat you like I did at Beach Cave!"

"Chaw-haw-haw! You forgot our last showdown? Let me remind you how you lost to Koffing and me... You were destroyed by our noxious gas combo!" He said.

"Urk..." Mario was losing confidence.

"You're destined to fail yet again! Chaw-haw-haw! Enough talking! Take this! Me and Koffing's special gas com-" They were interrupted by a voice coming from somewhere.

"Waah! Wait! Wait for me!" A perfect apple rolled between Team Pokecuties and Team Skull, "Perfect apple! Perfect apple!" Wigglytuff ran to his perfect apple and caught it, "I finally caught you! My perfect apple! If I lost you, I would... sniffle... Oh! Oh, you three! And my friends! Everyone's all together! Yay!" Wigglytuff cheered.

"What are you doing here, Guildmaster?" Skuntank asked.

"Huh? What was I doing?" Wigglytuff said, "My Perfect apple rolled away from me while I was taking a walk in the forest, so I went to catch it, and here I am! Yay! Oh! You three shouldn't be dawdling here, should you? You should be investigating the forest. Off you go." He said.

"But..." Peach said.

"You don't want to listen to your Guildmaster? Boo! Boo! Hurry, get exploring now!" He shouted.

"Err... Ok." Peach said. Team Pokecuties went behind a waterfall. Wigglytuff had obviously not heard from Corphish or noticed that the fog was gone.

"Umm... Guildmaster?" Skuntank said. Wigglytuff turned around, "We were thinking we should explore too..."

"That's alright! I can't trouble friends like that! We'll let Team Pokecuties do the exploring. Let's wait for them to report back." He said. Team Skull whispered among themselves. They had decided to take out Wigglytuff because he had a precious treasure.

Meanwhile, Team Pokecuties came to the entrance to Steam Cave.

"I guess we can enter thorough here, is that right?" Shinji asked.

"I guess so," Mario said.

"Stop with all the boring chatter! Let's go in!" Peach ran in ahead while her teammates followed.

Meanwhile, near the Groudon statue, Skuntank was staring at Wigglytuff.

"What are waiting for? Just give him the noxious gas combo already..." Koffing whispered to Skuntank.

"Whats wrong, friends? Why are you making such scary faces at me?" Wigglytuff asked.

"Gah! This guy's tough!" Skuntank whispered.

"You're trying to make me laugh with silly faces, aren't you? Well, I can do better!" Wigglytuff made some silly faces. He was freaking out Koffing. A few more exchanges of dialogue later, Skuntank and Koffing finally gave Wigglytuff a noxious gas combo.

**Steam Cave 1F**

The first things Peach noticed when Peach and her teammates got inside were that it was very dark, and it was hot and steamy. Peach was especially sweaty.

"Phew! It's hot in here! No wonder they call it Steam Cave!" She exclaimed. The first Pokemon they were attacked by was a Yanma.

"I can handle this Peach! Thunderbolt! Let's go!" Mario attacked and defeated the Pokemon in one hit. They walked a little more and came to a Snubull, who also attacked them.

"I'll handle this! Force Palm!" Shinji hit it with a powerful Force Palm attack and defeated it. Right before they found the stairs, they were attacked by another Pokemon, this time it was a Slugma. Peach easily defeated it with a bubble beam.

**Skipping to the midpoint...**

"I can't believe we made it this far!" Peach said. They had come to a small room with a Kangaskan rock. This was a midpoint, meaning there was a boss at the end of the dungeon. Suddenly, they heard a roar from the top.

"What was that? It sounded like a roar of some kind," Shinji said.

"Yeah it did... you weren't imagining it," Mario responded.

"That must mean there's a boss Pokemon at the end of the dungeon," Peach said.

"Okay, let's go!" Mario said before they moved forward. Peach stopped because she had to tell Mario something.

"Um, Mario..." She said.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I have something to tell you..." She rubbed her flippers nervously, "Well, I've been thinking about that legend that Chimecho told us, the one about Uxie wiping a Pokemon's memory clean by just locking eyes with them. What I'm trying to tell you is... I think he has something to do with my amnesia. Also, when we got to base camp, I had a nagging feeling I had been there before," She finished.

"Well, that's another reason to get to the top! We'll ask Uxie about your past together! Maybe he'll have an answer! You didn't really have to hide it all this time, Peach. You can trust me, right?" Mario said. Peach nodded. They finally went ahead to the second half of the dungeon.

**At the end of the dungeon...**

"Huff... We've gone very far... I think we're at the top...huff..." Shinji said, out of breath.

"This place... feels strange somehow. The air is filled with tension. It's like we're about to fight a legendary Pokemon!" Mario said. A roar sounded from close by and the ground started rumbling.

"Something's coming..." Peach said.

Meanwhile, back at the Groudon statue, Corphish showed everyone what he and Team Pokecuties discovered.

"Hey hey hey! Look at this thing!" He said.

"This is the Groudon statue?" Chatot asked.

"Oh! Nobody is here!" Sunflora said.

"Are you sure you saw the Guildmaster, Corphish?" Chatot asked him. Corphish nodded and told him what happened. A few more bits of dialoge later, the ground started rumbling and a roar sounded in the distance.

"Something's going on up there! Let's hurry!" Corphish led the others to Steam Cave. Diglett stopped for a moment.

"Dad, do you hear something? Like moaning and groaning?" Diglett asked his dad, Dugtrio. He denied it and the two went ahead. However, somewhere out of sight, Team Skull lay there, defeated.

"That Wigglytuff's tough! He just shrugged our noxious gas like it was nothing!" Skuntank whined. Basically, after Wigglytuff was hit with the noxious gas combo, he shrugged it off and beat Team Skull up.

Meanwhile, Team Pokecuties was being approached by a Groudon.

"T-that Pokemon looks like the statue! I can't believe it actually existed!" Mario was clearly surprised. The Groudon spoke in a loud voice.

"YOU! YOU HAVE COME TO DESECRATE THIS PLACE? DEPART NOW!" The Groudon said.

"WHY ARE YOU SPEAKING IN ALL CAPTIALS? IT IS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY TO SPEAK LIKE THIS," Peach shouted, in all capital letters. Mario said that they just wanted to go to Fogbound Lake.

"WHAT? FOGBOUND LAKE? I AM THE PROTECTOR OF FOGBOUND LAKE! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE!" Groudon went into some sort of battle pose.

"So instead of having out memories erased by Uxie, we get to be ripped into little bits by Groudon. That makes me feel much better," Peach said sarcastically.

Meanwhile, the guild was at Steam Cave's entrance, and they went inside. While they were running, Corphish asked Chatot about Groudon. Chatot explained that Groudon was a legendary Pokemon and if you try to fight him, you're as good as dead. Unfortunately for Team Pokecuties, they were about to fight it. Groudon roared, which scared Mario.

"Urk... I'm scared..." He said, "No! I have to be brave! Everyone's depending on me! I have to do this! There's no running now!" he said to encourage himself.

"PREPARE TO FACE MY WRATH!" Groudon roared and the battle started. At the start of the battle, the sunlight somehow became harsh. Peach moved a little closer to her enemy so she could hit him better. Mario and Shinji did the same. Groudon used a Slash attack on Peach and she took a little damage. Peach decided to use a Bubble beam attack on Groudon, but even though the attack was super effective, it barely did anything to him.

"What happened? My attack did less damage than it was supposed to!" Peach asked Mario. She was very frustrated.

"The sunlight's harsh, and in battle it weakens water type attacks like Bubble beam. Does that answer your question?" He said. She nodded. Mario used Agility so the team was faster than before. Shinji used Force Palm and scored a critical hit on Groudon. Due to Agility, Peach could move before Groudon, so she took a seed out of the treasure bag and threw it at Groudon, who ate it. Mario used a Quick Attack and it did a lot more damage than it usually did. He asked Peach what the seed was.

"It was a vile seed. It lowers the defense and special defense stats to their lowest points. I used it to raise the damage that my water type attacks do," She said. Shinji hit Groudon with another Force Palm, leaving it with very low health. Groudon returned Peach to normal speed with the move Scary Face, but Peach knocked it out with a Bubble beam attack the next time she could use a move. What followed were plenty of explosions while Groudon roared weakly. He then fainted and disappeared in a blast of light.

"Groudon disappeared?" Mario said, confused. A voice was heard from nearby.

"That wasn't Groudon," the voice said, "That was nothing more than just a illusion I conjured."

"W-who are you?" Peach said, a little surprised.

"Like I said, I am the guardian of this place, and I can't allow you to come here," it said.

"But we're not here to cause trouble!" Shinji said, "We only came for information! Honest!"

"Information, you say?"

"Yes, that's the truth! Well, we are an exploration team... And we'd like to leave with some treasure after all we did to get here! But we'll leave with nothing if you have a problem with that," Mario said, "so please believe us!"

"Hmm... well... I believe you." There were a few flashes of light and then Uxie appeared out of nowhere, "Let me welcome you then. I am Uxie, the guardian of Fogbound Lake."

"You're Uxie?" Peach was obviously surprised.

"Yes. I stand guard over something special in Fogbound Lake. Now, let me escort you to it. Please follow me," Uxie led them outside the cave they were in and to the lake. It was already nighttime.

"Wow! It's so dark now!" Shinji said.

"It might be difficult to see now, but... Behold! Fogbound Lake!" Uxie said. Peach looked around the lake. There were plenty of little lights in the air and there was a glowing space in the water. Uxie explained how the lake came to be. "Now look at the glowing spot at the center of the lake and take a closer look." Peach walked a little further to see the source of the glow. It was a time gear that was causing the spot to glow. It made Peach's heart race, but Shinji had no such reaction.

"This is a time gear. It's the sole reason I'm here," Uxie said., "Others have tried to trespass here, but I usually scared them off with my Groudon illusion."

"How did you conjure that up anyway?" Mario asked.

"With my psychic powers. Like this..." Uxie made a poor Groudon illusion. Mario and Shinji were scared by it.

"Come on! It's just an illusion! There's nothing to be scared of," Peach said.

"The few who managed to beat my Groudon illusion and come here have had their memories erased by me. I do this to protect the lake." Uxie said.

"Um, Uxie, I want to ask you something," Peach said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Have any humans been here?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Why do you ask?"

"I used to be a human, but now I'm a Piplup. I have no memory of being one at all..."

"Let me explain further, I only erase memories of Fogbound Lake, not entire memories of living beings. I had nothing to do with your past life or your transformation into a Piplup."

"Well, we didn't find anything out about your past, Peach." Mario said to her.

"A time gear! Well, that's too bad!" Wigglytuff came to the lake, "We can't take a time gear."

"Wigglytuff!" Mario said, quite surprised at his sudden appearance.

"And who is that?" Uxie asked.

"That's our Guildmaster, Wigglytuff!" Peach said.

"Glad to meet you, friend!" Wigglytuff said to Uxie. He also said this to the fake Groudon. "Gaze upon this amazing view! I'm glad we came here!" He sung a little tune. Soon after, the rest of the guild came. They were all startled by the fake Groudon. "What's wrong? Look at the lake! It's spouting!" Everyone was confused by what he said. It was true, the center of the lake was spouting. There were Illumise and Volbeat flying all around the geyser while the time gear's light illuminated it. It was a sight to behold. Wigglytuff said, "The treasure must be the view of Fogbound Lake!"

"Are you taking this in, you two? It's truly magical, isn't it?" Mario said.

"Yeah, it is. I'm glad to be here with you, Mario... and you too, Shinji..." Peach got a little closer to Mario. Mario looked away causally and blushed.

"So sorry to have disturbed you! Had a great time! Friend!" Wigglytuff said after they were done.

"I will not take your memories away of this place, but you must not speak of this place to anyone." Uxie said. Everyone agreed to this and soon after, they went back to the guild. Life returned to normal for Team Pokecuties and the other apprentices.

**That was a long chapter, wasn't it? Please review! Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13 the not so great Dusknoir

**All right! I'm already on chapter 13! Let's begin!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. You do know how useless these actually are, right?**

**Chapter 13**

**The Not-so-great Dusknoir finally appears**

"RISE and SHINE, sleepyheads! It's morning!" Loudred woke our heroes up, as usual. After the big expedition, things were pretty normal. Peach was unhappy to be woken up while Mario and Shinji didn't mind. They did the morning cheers and were about to go to work when Loudred shouted at Diglett.

"What do you MEAN you can't identify the footprint?" He bellowed at his partner.

"He doesn't have a footprint! I don't know what I don't know!" They continued to argue. Chatot, Peach, Mario and Shinji walked up to him and asked what was wrong.

"Diglett here can't identify a footprint!" He shouted.

"I told you already! He doesn't have a footprint," Diglett hollered back.

"Shut up, Diglett," Loudred said, "As I was saying, it's very rare for him to be stunned by a footprint. I wouldn't be surprised if you three were doing sentry duty, though," He said.

"H-Hey. I did fine, thank you very much! Besides, Diglett couldn't identify my footprint, either," Peach yelled at Loudred.

"W-well, there aren't many Piplups in this area, you know," Loudred and Peach started to argue.

"Peach and Loudred! Stop your arguing at once," Chatot broke up the argument.

"What? Your name is Dusknoir and you want to meet the Guildmaster?" Diglett had apparently asked the Pokemon for his name.

"The famous Dusknoir is here?" Chatot was clearly surprised, and so was Loudred.

"Who's Dusknoir?" Shinji asked.

"You don't know who the great Dusknoir is?" Chatot said.

"Nope," Shinji said.

"Well, I'll tell you. Dusknoir is a world famous explorer who literally became famous overnight," Chatot explained. A few moments later, Dusknoir came into the guild and started a conversation with Wigglytuff. Shinji instantly had an urge to go outside, so he ran out.

"...Oh... that must have been very disappointing," Dusknoir said.

"Yeah, total disappointment! Didn't learn anything! No treasure at all!" Wigglytuff said.

"Well, I came to learn about your latest expedition..."

"Sorry to waste your time!"

"It's no trouble to me at all! Really! I got to visit your famous guild. I plan to stay here for a while, and I'm going to make more visits here during my stay," Dusknoir said.

"Other teams visit us all the time! You are welcome here," Wigglytuff said. He introduced Dusknoir to the rest of the guild and said he was quite knowledgeable. Chatot told everyone not to ask for autographs. Everyone was dismissed as soon as the talking was over. Dusknoir went for a stroll outside, and Shinji went back inside. The rest of the day was normal.

That night, while everyone was asleep, Team Skull came to the entrance of the guild.

"Chief, you really want to get revenge?" Zubat asked.

"Wigglytuff wrecked us last time. Don't want that happening again... I need payback," Skuntank said. After a while, they decided to pick on Team Pokecuties because they thought they were wimpy.

The next morning started like normal, except for the fact Chatot sent Team Pokecuties to check if the Kecleon shop was getting any perfect apples anytime soon before they do any assignment.

When they got there, they saw Dusknoir chatting with the Kecleon brothers. Shinji ran away from Dusknoir for some reason.

"Hello! You are from the guild, if I remember correctly?" Dusknoir said when he noticed them.

"Yes, we are. We're Team Pokecuties. What are you doing here? Are you shopping or something?" Peach said.

"No, I'm just enjoying a nice chat," Dusknoir said.

"He is quite famous, and knowledgeable too!" One of the brothers said.

"Then the rumors must be true," Mario said.

"What are you here for? Shopping?" One of the Kecleons asked.

"Nope, we're here to see if you plan to stock any perfect apples," Mario said.

"Sorry, but we do not plan to have any perfect apples in stock, sorry to disappoint you," Kecleon said.

"It's okay..." Mario said, a little disappointed, "Come on, let's tell Chatot the news..." Mario was about to walk away with Peach following him when they saw Marill and Azurill.

"Hey, Misters Kecleon! Someone found our Water float! They said it's on the beach!" Marill said.

"That's great!" One of the Kecleon said.

"What's a Water Float?" Peach asked.

"It's an item exclusive to Azurill's evolution family. You have to trade a lot for it, it's very rare," Dusknoir said.

"We'll be getting it now! Bye!" Azurill said as they left. Peach had a very bad feeling about this for some reason. They left soon after to report the news to Chatot. The rest of the day was pretty boring for Team Pokecuties until dinner time, when Chatot had an announcement. Everybody was unhappy because they just wanted to eat.

"Another time gear has been stolen!" He announced. There was a huge fuss among the apprentices.

"Could it be..?" Peach was absolutely stunned. She hoped it wasn't Fogbound Lake's time gear. Her heartbeat was accelerating rapidly and she felt a little weak.

"No, it's not from Fogbound Lake. It's from a place called Limestone Cave," A surge of relief passed over everyone. After everyone settled down, they were ready to eat. After dinner, they all went to bed. Before they went to sleep, Team Pokecuties had a little chat.

"Hey, Peach, Shinji, Chatot said that another time gear was stolen right before dinner," Mario started the conversation.

"Yeah, when I think about it, who would want them anyway?" Shinji said.

"Maybe the Pokemon who is stealing them is crazy," Peach said.

"Okay... You know, Uxie guards a time gear, so I hope he's okay," Peach said.

"Of course he is! You know what, let's stop talking and go to sleep," Mario said. Peach couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was happening to Fogbound Lake at the very moment as she went to sleep.

**Fogbound Lake...**

"Why did I trust those Pokemon..? I could have wiped their memories of this place when I had the chance. Now the time gear's being stolen!" Uxie said as he lay on the ground. He had been beaten by Grovyle, who wanted the time gear. He shook his head simply.

"I didn't hear about this place from anybody. I've known about this place for a long, long time..." He said, "And I would have gotten here faster if it wasn't for her," he pointed to Himeka, who was enjoying the view. She heard what he said and got a little upset.

"I'm holding you back?" She said, a little teary in the eyes. Grovyle sighed and dove into the water to get the time gear. When he had it, they ran out together as time began to freeze behind them.

**At the guild...**

The next morning started normally until Loudred told Team Pokecuties that they had visitors. When they got outside the entrance, they saw the visitors were Marill and Azurill. Marill was holding a note.

"What's wrong, you two? You don't look so happy," Peach said, feeling a little concerned.

"It's about yesterday. We went to the beach hoping to find the Water Float, but we found this note instead," Marill handed Peach the note. She read it. It appeared to be a ransom note saying to come to a dungeon called Amp Plains to get the Water Float back.

"Who could have done this?" Shinji shouted. Peach shoved the note in his face to show him the excessive amounts of "chaw-haw-haw" in the note.

"There's no denying it, Team Skull did it," She said to him. She turned to Marill and asked, "Have you tried getting it from there before?"

"Yes, I have, but the electric type Pokemon overpowered me. I tried again and again, but I kept on getting defeated. So I came here to ask you to help us and get it for us! You will, won't you?" He said.

"You're kidding me, right?" Peach said.

"What do you mean?" Marill asked.

"You're seriously expecting me to go into a dungeon full of electric types and get your item for you?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"I'm a water type for pete's sake! Electric types are super effective against water types, got it?"

"So what?"

"Ugh, fine. We'll get your item for you. Come on, Mario and Shinji, let's go..." Peach grabbed Mario by the paw and dragged him and Shinji to the dungeon's entrance**.**

** Amp Plains 1F**

"So this is Amp Plains..." Peach said once they were inside the dungeon. They walked until they found a TM for the move Blizzard. "This will help a lot. I'll learn the move so monster houses won't be as annoying. I heard there are some here," she said as she used it.

**Skipping to the midpoint...**

"We've climbed up far. The Water Float can't be far away now. Come on guys, let's go!" Peach said. Shinji and Mario nodded in agreement before going on to Upper Amp Plains.

Meanwhile in Treasure Town, Marill, Azurill, Dusknoir, and the Kecleon brothers were talking about what happened the previous day with the Water Float. It was pretty innocent until Marill mentioned that Team Pokecuties were in Amp Plains.

"A-Amp Plains? You sent them to Amp Plains? It's the season of thunderstorms! Team Pokecuties is in great danger! I have to save them!" Dusknoir ran towards Amp Plains to rescue the unaware team from the impending doom that awaited them.

**Skipping to the top of Amp Plains...**

Team Pokecuties walked ahead and saw the Water Float in front of them. They ran to it to get it, but before they could grab it, everything went dark.

"How dare you trespass in our territory! You shall pay dearly!" A voice boomed from close by. It startled Peach and her teammates, so they hid behind a rock.

"You do know we can see you, right? You can't escape from us!" A bolt of lightning struck the rock, destroying it. Several more bolts struck the ground rapidly and a Luxray and a few Luxio suddenly appeared. "We are the Luxray and Luxio tribe! Try to take our territory and pay!"

"We're not here to take your territory! We're-" Peach was cut off by Luxray.

"Silence! We will not listen to your reason! We know you're here to claim our territory!" He shouted. Luxray and the Luxio attacked and a boss battle started. Peach showed off her new Blizzard attack, knocking out all of the Luxio, leaving only Luxray. The next few minutes were not worth mentioning because Team Pokecuties basically swept the floor with Luxray. After they were all defeated, they just stood up again. "We will not give up our territory!" Luxray roared and slashed the team, weakening them. He was about to fire a bolt of electricity when Dusknoir appeared out of nowhere. Shinji struggled to run away.

"Stop this at once! These Pokemon are not here to take your territory," He said.

"And how can we trust you?" Luxray asked.

"I know that you come here every season of thunderstorms. Once someone tried to take your territory and failed. That is why you are so hostile towards strangers," Dusknoir said.

"Fine, we trust you. We're going to leave for a while and you better not be here when we get back," Luxray and the Luxio walked away.

"Thank you, Dusknoir, for saving us," Mario thanked him.

"It was nothing. Now let's get the Water Float and return it to Marill and Azurill," Dusknoir said. Peach picked up the Water Float and led her teammates home.

"Thank you, Team Pokecuties," Marill thanked them once he and his brother had the Water Float back. They were at the Kecleon shop with Dusknoir. Shinji wasn't there because he had "some business to take care of."

"We didn't do it alone," said Mario, "Dusknoir helped us."

"Yeah," Peach looked at Dusknoir. "If it wasn't for him, we'd be dead."

"It was nothing," Dusknoir said, "I did it out of the good of my heart." Peach felt a sudden chill when she heard him say "good in my heart." She didn't know why. Was it coincidental? Or was it not? She thought it was just a mere coincidence and thought nothing more of it.

"May I interrupt?" Kecleon asked, "This is the second time you've helped these brothers, right? The last time was amazing. I mean, the way you found out little Azurill's location. It was like magic!"

"It wasn't magic," Peach shook her head. "I saw where he was in a dream." She remembered how strange it felt the first time she had a "dizzy spell." It was like her heart was beating a thousand times faster. It wasn't one of her favorite memories.

"A dream, you say?" Dusknoir was highly interested.

"You know something about it, Dusknoir?" Peach asked him.

"Yes, I know a little about it... If you want to know more, come to the beach with me," He started walking away. Peach and Mario followed him to the beach.

"So, Dusknoir, what do you know about that dream that my partner had?" Mario asked once they were at the beach.

"That wasn't a mere dream, that was the dimensional scream," Dusknoir started, "It's a rare ability that lets the user see visions after touching certain objects."

"Wow! That's amazing, Peach!" Mario exclaimed. He could never imagine that his own friend had such an amazing ability.

"Oh, I don't know your names. What are they anyway?" Dusknoir asked.

"I'm Mario and this is Peach. We have another teammate named Shinji, but he's never here when you're around," Mario told him their names. When Dusknoir heard Peach's name, for a split second, he smiled. Peach noticed this and asked if her name rang any bells.

"No, it doesn't at all, sorry," Dusknoir said. Peach was a little creeped out and wondered why he grinned at her name. Suddenly, Bidoof ran to the beach, panting with a distressed look on his face.

"Team Pokecuties! I've been looking all over for you! You're needed at the guild this instant! It's an emergency! Come quick!" Bidoof shouted.

"If there's that many exclamation points, it must be urgent," Peach said. Dusknoir, Mario, and Peach ran as fast as they could to the guild.

**Ok, that's the end of the chapter! Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14 The Two Thieves

**Ok, it's chapter 14! Let's start!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon! Nintendo owns it.**

**Chapter 14:**

**The Two Thieves**

"What happened?" Mario asked once he, Peach, and Dusknoir were at the guild. Everyone in the guild were there, including Shinji. Shinji noticed Dusknoir was there, but he tried his best not to run.

"You're late. I just heard this now, but... Fogbound Lake's time gear... has been stolen!" Chatot announced to everyone.

"No, it can't be that... someone spilled the beans?" Mario said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We didn't tell anyone about Fogbound Lake. How dare you accuse us of telling! We didn't do anything. Right, May?" Alice turned to her teammate, May.

"Y-yeah... right..." May was about to cry.

"May, you're about to cry again?" Alice said.

"Sorry, for accusing you guys. I know you wouldn't tell anyone about the lake," Mario apologized. Chatot cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"As I was about to say before I was interrupted," he looked at Mario, "Uxie is safe. After he was questioned, we've found out who the culprits are," Chatot turned to the wanted posters behind him and pointed to two particular posters, "One of them is a Grovyle, and the other is..." Chatot paused, "a human." The human's picture was in black and white. The human was a woman with a narrow face, a tiny nose, a small mouth, and almond shaped eyes.

"WHAT? That's not possible!" Loudred bellowed.

"I know, it's impossible, but it's true. We should catch these crooks as soon as possible, but first we should see where they would strike next," Chatot continued.

"May I interrupt?" Dusknoir asked, "If Uxie was guarding a time gear, then Mesprit and Azelf must be guarding some too. They should be at lakes, like Uxie was."

"Seriously, what's with them and lakes? I just don't get it," Peach interrupted him.

"I don't know. Well anyway, we should look for the lakes in where you would least expect them to be," he said.

"That's a marvelous idea, Dusknoir. Now, Team Ai and Team Pokecuties will investigate the Northern Desert. Bidoof and Sunflora will go to Crystal Cave..." Chatot assigned everyone to a mystery dungeon. Peach was relieved that her team was not with Bidoof again, but she was a little upset that she had to go with Team Ai. "Everyone should make preparations before they go..." Chatot kept on talking. When he was finally finished, Peach and her team went to the Chimecho Assembly to put Butterfree on the active team. After a visit to the Kecleon Shop and the Kangaskan Storage, they were finally ready to go.

**At the entrance to the mystery dungeon...**

When they got to the entrance, Alice suggested that both teams split up and explore separately. Peach agreed and they all went inside.

**Northern Desert B1F**

The first thing they noticed was that there was a sandstorm brewing. They thought nothing of it at first, but as they walked, the sand started to hurt their eyes.

"Ow! It hurts!" Butterfree screamed in pain.

"It's nothing, Butterfree. We only take three points of damage every few turns," Mario explained to him.

"Oh, I was overreacting..." He said. A few minutes later, they walked right into a monster house. About ten Pokemon appeared out of nowhere to attack the team.

"Let me take care of this!" Peach was about to use Blizzard when Butterfree used Silver Wind and knocked all of the Pokemon out. "What was that for, Butterfree? I was about to knock them out with Blizzard," Peach was not pleased with her teammate.

"While I was off the team, I learned this move. So, I decided to show it off. That's all..." Butterfree was a little saddened.

"She didn't mean it, Butterfree, so don't be sad..." Shinji said. They walked a little and beat up the Pokemon that attacked them, and then they reached the stairs.

**Fourteen floors that are not important to the plot later...**

"Oh! You're here, Team Pokecuties! We got here a few minutes ago. Check these pools of quicksand out!" To Peach's dismay, Team Ai had gotten to the end of the dungeon before her and her teammates.

"Nice quicksand," Peach said. She didn't get was so cool about quicksand, especially this one. She quickly noticed May was crying, for the second time that day.

"I-I don't want to go in! No, no, noooo!" She was shaking her head a little bit.

"Don't mind her, she cries all the time, for many reasons," Alice said.

"What's the reason this time?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, it's simple, I just wanted to leap into the pools of quicksand. There might be something in there," Alice said. Peach was very surprised at what she had said.

"You wanted to jump into the quicksand? No wonder May is crying!" Peach yelled at her.

"My, my. You get angry so easily, Peach. Dusknoir said to look for water in the most unexpected of places. You wouldn't expect to find water in a pool of quicksand, would you? Think about it for a second," Alice calmly said to the easily irritated Piplup. Peach paused for a few seconds and then she grumbled a little bit.

"Fine! We'll all go in tomorrow," Peach started to walk away, "Mario! Shinji! What are you waiting for? Let's go back to the guild," She turned around and then her teammates followed. Team Ai also followed them back to the guild.

**At the guild...**

"So, did you find anything?" Chatot asked. There was silence for a few minutes. "I'll take that as a no. Well, we'll look again tomorrow..." He said. Soon after, everyone ate their meals and went to bed.

The next day, Chatot told everyone to look for the time gears on their own. Team Ai and Team Pokecuties went back to the pools of quicksand without going thorough Northern Desert.

"Ok, we'll go in and then we will go split up and search for the lakes on our own, ok?" Alice said when they were there.

"Ok, that's a great idea," Peach agreed with her. They all then leaped into the quicksand together. They all landed in a room with sand pouring down.

"So I was right, there was something here!" Alice exclaimed. Everyone ignored her and went on.

**Ten plot unimportant floors later...**

Team Pokecuties was first to the midpoint. Peach was quite happy because of this.

"We got here before that annoying Team Ai!" She said, quite proud of herself. Just then, Team Ai walked in. Peach bragged to them about how she got there first and how they were slowpokes. Alice remained calm for some reason.

"You do know that there is a boss Pokemon ahead since this is a midpoint, right?" She asked. Peach paused for a moment.

"Of course we're ready! We've fought Groudon before, so this next fight will be easy!" She said. She and her teammates left for the next part of the dungeon, which was Quicksand Pit, soon after.

**Underground Lake**

"Ah! A lake! A time gear must be here!" Peach and her team came to the lake before Team Ai had.

"How DARE you try to steal the time gear!" A voice came from the water.

"We're not trying to steal the time gear! We're-" Shinji was cut off by the voice

"Silence! I already know you're trying to steal the time gear!" It was a feminine voice, almost certainly coming from a girl, "Uxie told me telepathically!" Mesprit came up from the water.

"Looks like we have a boss battle coming up..." Peach didn't sound happy.

"How can you tell, Peach?" Mario asked.

"We're usually interrupted at least once before the battle," Peach said.

"Were we late?" Alice said as she and May came to the lake.

"No, you're just in time for a boss battle," Shinji said. A few bits of dialogue later, a boss battle started. Peach was about to use BubbleBeam when Butterfree suddenly used Silver Wind and knocked Mesprit back a little.

"Good job, Butterfree! Keep using that move, ok?" Peach praised her teammate.

"Thanks!" Butterfree responded. A few uses of Silver Wind later, they defeated Mesprit.

"I w-won't let you take the time gear even if it kills me!" Mesprit said.

"Listen, we're not here to take the time gear," Peach said.

"Then if you're not here to take the time gear, then who is?" Mesprit asked.

"That... would be us," a voice said from behind them. It was Grovyle and the woman in the poster. Peach noticed that her skin seemed to be as white as snow and her eyes were a reddish pink with red pupils.

"I'm sorry, but we need that time gear. I'm Himeka if you want to address me by anything," She said. Grovyle groaned and knocked Mario, Peach, and Shinji out of the way.

"Get out of the way!" He yelled at Mesprit.

"Over my dead body!" Mesprit yelled back.

"Fine then," Grovyle attacked Mesprit. Peach and Mario got up and stood in front of the lake.

"Sorry, Grovyle, but we won't let you take the time gear!" Peach said. Grovyle said nothing and knocked them out of the way quickly.

"Wow... he's way fast!" Mario said. Grovyle jumped in the water to take the time gear.

"Why isn't Himeka doing anything?" Peach noticed that she was standing by the lake instead of helping Grovyle take the time gear.

"I'm guessing she can't swim," Mario said quietly. Suddenly there was a huge flash of light and everyone got up. Grovyle got out of the water and ran with Himeka out of the dungeon.

"I guess we better do the same thing as they're doing. Run for our lives!" Butterfree screamed. They did just that.

**At the guild**

Back at the guild, Magnezone and the Magnemite were talking about how Mesprit was safe and thanked them for helping them with their criminal investigation and then they left.

"So you found a lake with a time gear, fought Mesprit, and saw Grovyle take the time gear?" Chatot said after they were gone.

"Yes..." Mario said sadly.

"Well, now we have to find Azelf," Dusknoir said, "Bidoof, didn't you take a crystal from Crystal Cave?"

"H-how did you guess? I did take one from there and never told anyone! You are so smart, Dusknoir!" Bidoof said.

"May we see it?" Dusknoir asked.

"But that's my personal treasure!" Bidoof said.

"Don't worry, Peach is only going to touch it to activate her plot advancing powers, or the dimensional scream, which lets her see the past or future," Dusknoir assured him.

"Oh okay," Bidoof handed the crystal over to Peach. No sooner had she touched it, her dimensional scream started up. She saw Grovyle, Himeka, and Azelf at a lake. Azelf was hurt badly.

**Grovyle: Forgive me, but I'll be taking that time gear now!**

After the vision was over, she told everyone about it.

"That's interesting... but do you know if it was in the past or the future?" Dusknoir asked. Peach shook her head. "Well, we have to go to Crystal Cave and see," He said.

"Okay, make your preparations and then head out for Crystal Cave," Chatot said. Peach ignored Chatot and went right to Crystal Cave.

**Skipping to the end**

They came to three different colored crystals at the end of the dungeon. Mario walked up to them. He was curious at what they were.

"What are these? For some plot related reason, I think these are clues! Let's touch them and see what happens," Mario touched a crystal, which changed its color. "Wow! They change color when you touch them! Peach, why don't you touch a crystal?" Peach walked up and touched a crystal a few times.

"Cool! We should touch these some more... Oh no..." She felt a dimensional scream coming, "I hate these..."

**I see... Azelf is the being of willpower. Willpower is what drives us both. It's a power that unifies us. If the colors of the crystals were made one, the path should reveal itself. What is the color of Azelf's soul, anyway? That is the question.**

"It was only a voice again..." Peach muttered.

"So, what did you see in your dimensional scream?" Mario asked. Peach told him everything about the vision. "So, we have to make all the crystals the same color?"

"That's right, I'm guessing that the crystals should be blue since Azelf is blue," Peach said. She, Mario, and Shinji touched the crystals until they were blue. There was a tremor and then electricity surged from all of the crystals and went to the center, forming a sphere.

"This looks dangerous! We should back off!" Mario said. They all went near Butterfree, who was standing near where they had come from. Suddenly, a huge crystal rose from the floor, revealing a door into a mystery dungeon.

"This is probably the way to the lake. So, let's go team!" Peach said. Everyone nodded in agreement and they were on their way.

**Skipping to Crystal Lake**

When they got there, they noticed that they weren't too late. Grovyle and Himeka were there, but they hadn't taken the time gear yet. Azelf, like in Peach's vision, was badly beaten.

"Forgive me, but I'll be taking that time gear now!" Grovyle said.

"Stop right there!" The whole team shouted at the same time. Grovyle and Himeka turned around to see them.

"Who are you?" Himeka asked.

"We're Team Pokecuties, a gold rank exploration team! I'm-" Peach was cut short by Mario.

"Since when were we gold rank?" He asked.

"We got it between chapters, remember?" She said.

"Oh, that's right," Mario remembered.

"Sorry, but you won't be getting the time gear today," Azelf said and then his left eye started to glow. Crystals sprung up nowhere all around the lake, making going in and swimming impossible. Grovyle was clearly angry at Team Pokecuties for not letting him take the time gear, he was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth angrily.

"You morons! Can't you see what you've done?" He shouted at them.

'Well, we can't let you take the time gear!" Peach hollered back.

"I'm sorry, but I need that time gear and I don't care if I have to knock you out to get to it!" A boss battle started instantly. Butterfree used Sliver Wind several times during the fight, while Peach used Peck. Eventually, Grovyle was defeated, but soon after, he got up and attacked Team Pokecuties with no real explanation as to how he suddenly healed himself.

"Ack..." Mario was right in front of Grovyle.

"Move out of the way!" Grovyle shouted at him. Mario tried to say something, but he conveniently couldn't speak. _I conveniently can't speak! At one of the worst times too... but I won't step aside for Grovyle!_ He thought.

"You refuse? Well then, you leave me no choice!" _Oh no! I'm going to die! I'm too young to die! Peach, if you can read my mind, please name your babies after me! _Mario thought.

"Forgive me, but this is for the time gear!" Grovyle lunged at Mario.

"Stop!" Dusknoir appeared out of nowhere. _Oh, Dusknoir conveniently appeared! Yes! I'm not dead! _Mario thought. "Are you alright, Mario? Let me handle this one!" Dusknoir punched Grovyle, sending him back a little.

"D-Dusknoir!" Grovyle sounded surprised.

"It's been way too long!" Dusknoir said.

"Heh. To think you chased me even to this world. You're really clingy, you know! I'm honestly really surprised, but I'm ready!" Grovyle said.

"What's going on?" Himeka said, very confused. Mario looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"So you'll fight for once. So be it. But, can you win? Especially against ME?" Dusknoir put both of his hands in the air. Grovyle and Dusknoir both lunged at each other, but there was suddenly a bright flash of light and then Grovyle and Himeka disappeared.

"That blasted Grovyle! He never wanted to fight!" Dusknoir punched the ground, "There's no escaping ME!" He vanished suddenly in pursuit of Grovyle. Mario fainted soon after.

"Oh my gosh! They're out!" Sunflora shouted off camera.

"Hey hey hey! Hurry up!" Corphish said. They all ran to where Azelf and Team Pokecuties were.

"Waah! They're knocked out! Waah!" May cried.

"They're badly injured! We need to take them to the guild for immediate treatment," Alice said. They surrounded the injured Pokemon and took them to the guild.

**At the guild**

"Ugh... where are we?" Peach said when she woke up in her bed. Chimecho was in between the three beds.

"You're in your room in the guild. You three were hurt. You've been sleeping for days," Chimecho answered.

"A-are you okay you two?" Peach asked her teammates.

"Yeah," they said in unison.

"That's a relief. I was worried there for a moment," Peach sighed, "Wait, what about Azelf? Is he okay?" Peach asked.

"He's fine. He got up earlier. Compared to you, his injuries weren't that severe. He got up earlier today. He's in the guild," Chimecho said.

"That's great! I'm glad he's okay," Peach said, relived.

"I'm really glad you guys are also okay! I'm going to call everyone in to see you," Chimecho rang the bell on her head and then the rest of the guild stampeded into the room.

"REALLY? That's AWESOME!" Loudred said as loud as ever.

"Oh my gosh! That's wonderful," Sunflora said.

"Waah! You're awake! Waah!" May was crying, again.

"I'm mighty glad! If something were to happen... I'd... I'd..." Bidoof said.

"Wow! You're really emotional! Oh, there's something I want to share with you all," Mario said.

"What? You're saying that Grovyle and the great Dusknoir knew each other before all this?" Chatot said later when he heard what Mario wanted to say. They were in front of the Guildmaster's door.

"Yeah! It sounded that way when they were preparing to fight," Mario said.

"Well, what happened to the great Dusknoir?" Alice asked.

"Grovyle and Himeka escaped, and Dusknoir went in pursuit of them..." Mario said. Suddenly, the emergency siren sounded.

"Waah! It's so loud!" May started to cry. Diglett got a message from Magnemite for everyone to come to the town square immediately. Everyone rushed to Treasure Town. When they got there, they saw that everyone in the town was there.

"Oh! The guild members!" a Teddiursa said.

"If even the guild members are here, something serious must be happening!" a Vigoroth said.

"Azelf!" Uxie noticed his presence.

"Uxie! Mesprit!" Azelf reunited with the other members of the lake trio.

"Are you all right?" Mesprit asked.

"I'm ok," Azelf said. After more talking, Peach and Mario finally came onto the screen.

"Oh! Peach and Mario! You're safe! Hey, where's Shinji?" Dusknoir said.

"He had some business to take care of so he won't be here. I wonder why he's almost never here when you're around. Anyway, can you tell us what happened? What happened to Grovyle and Himeka?" Mario said.

"I chased them, but they slipped away from me," Dusknoir responded.

"Oh, that's too bad. Anyway, there's something I want to ask you. Have you and Grovyle met before?" Dusknoir was about to answer Mario's question when officer Magnezone interrupted them.

"May I interrupt? That and more will be covered in this meeting," He said. Later when everyone was there, the meeting started. Officer Magnezone began talking. "ZZZT! Many time gears have been stolen! By the Pokemon Grovyle and the human Himeka! ZZZT! In the regions where time gears have been stolen, time has stopped! ZZZT! This is a very serious problem, as you all may know! ZZZT! Grovyle and Himeka failed... ZZZT! Failed to steal a time gear! This one was protected by the mighty Azelf!" Everyone clapped happily, "And who chased off Grovyle and Himeka and saved Azelf from death? The great Dusknoir! ZZZT!" Everyone praised Dusknoir and cheered.

"May I interrupt? I should explain from here..." Dusknoir said.

"ZZZT! Of course! Please take it from here! ZZZT!" Magnezone said.

"Everyone! While we should be happy we protected the time gear this time... Grovyle and Himeka still remain at large."

"How does everyone know Himeka's name? Dusknoir and Magnezone weren't there when she said it," Peach whispered to Mario.

"I told them her name, Peach," Mario whispered back.

"Grovyle and Himeka will certainly make another attempt to steal the time gear. There is another matter that has to do with this. It is extremely important and I must share it with you. Earlier, Mario asked me if I knew Grovyle from before. It is correct, I knew Grovyle from before all this. What I am about to say may shock you, but it is the truth! First, Grovyle is a Pokemon from the future. Himeka is his best friend. They are notorious criminals. They have a huge bounty on their heads. In order to avoid being captured, they fled to this time. When they came here, they plotted a catastrophic plan. A plan to paralyze the planet. You see, when a time gear is removed, time stops in that region. As more and more are taken, time stops in more areas. When all the time gears are taken, the planet becomes paralyzed," Dusknoir began to vividly describe what a paralyzed planet is like. It was almost like he lived there. "Things have been going out of control lately. That is also because of the time gear theft. If time gears continue to be stolen, the world will end in ruin." Corphish interrupted Dusknoir and asked how he knew all about Grovyle and the time gears. "Well, that is because I, too am from the future. My objective is to capture both Grovyle and Himeka. That is why I came to this world. I needed to know as much as I could to capture them, so I studied intensively about this world. That is why I know so much."

"Why didn't you tell us before, Dusknoir?" An Ursaring asked.

"I sincerely apologize. I feel terrible for not saying anything. But, what if I told everyone about my identity from the start? Who would have believed me? Nobody would believe me at all," Dusknoir said.

"Sorry..." Ursaring said.

"I also needed to avoid alerting my presence to Grovyle and Himeka," Dusknoir said.

"That makes sense when you think about it..." Chatot said.

"But... it is a fact... that I have been deceiving you all this time. For that I apologize," Dusknoir said.

"No no! You don't have to apologize! You haven't done anything wrong!" Chatot said.

"ZZZT! I agree with Chatot! Dusknoir has done nothing wrong in my book! ZZZT! Instead we should direct our anger on Grovyle and Himeka! ZZZT! We must capture them! ZZZT!" Everyone agreed with Magnezone. Eventually, they came up with a plan to capture Grovyle and Himeka. First, everyone would spread rumors that the time gear in Crystal Lake was being sealed away. Then, Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf will go to Crystal Lake to catch Grovyle and Himeka. Everyone wanted to be the one to catch them.

"I'm sorry, but I need to work alone," Dusknoir said.

"W-why?" Mario asked.

'To put it short, Grovyle is extremely wary. He'll notice it's a trap if he notices the unusual number of Pokemon in the area. Himeka will too. That is why I must work alone. Sorry for my selfishness," Dusknoir explained.

"That makes sense..." Mario said, a little disappointed.

"That's how it is, guild members. Up to now... we were catching Grovyle and Himeka," Chatot said, "but now we're not. We'll just provide support."

"I still want to catch that Grovyle..." Peach said sadly. The meeting ended on a high note a few minutes later. That night, before they went to sleep, Team Pokecuties had a conversation.

"Are you still awake you two?" Mario asked.

"Yup, thanks to you," Peach said rudely.

"I was about to go to sleep, but yeah, I'm still awake," Shinji said.

"That's great because I wanted to talk to you two about today," Mario said.

"You mean Dusknoir's speech?" Peach asked.

"Yeah, that. It was shocking. I mean, the fact that Grovyle, Himeka, and Dusknoir are from the future," Mario said.

"Yeah, it was shocking. Dusknoir came from the future to pursue Grovyle and Himeka and take them back to the future," Shinji was soon cut off by Peach.

"And he's doing it alone too! I really want to catch that Grovyle! I don't care if he said we couldn't! I'm going anyway!" Peach said angrily.

"Peach, that's not such a good idea. Remember what happened last time we faced Grovyle? I was almost killed," Mario said and sighed.

"Oh, right. Sorry for getting so worked up about it. I guess that catching Grovyle and Himeka is Dusknoir's responsibility," Peach sighed.

"And that means we have to stay out of his business, right?" Shinji added.

"Right. Let's go to sleep... good night you two..." Peach laid down and went to sleep. Mario and Shinji did the same.

"WAKE UP! It's MORNING!" Loudred woke them up the next morning.

"ARRGH! Can't you shut up, Loudred? I need my beauty sleep!" Peach screamed at Loudred when she was woken up by his loud voice.

"WELL, excuse me! I'm just doing my JOB!" Loudred shouted back in a loud voice. They both started to argue.

"Peach and Loudred! Stop this at once! My ears are ringing!" Mario broke up the fight before it got ugly.

"Sorry, Mario," Peach apologized. They soon all went to do the morning cheers.

"So, we have not yet gotten word of Grovyle and Himeka's capture. Until they are captured, we should carry on with our usual work. That is all. So, let's get to work everyone!" Chatot said after the morning cheers.

"HOORAY!" Everyone went off to do their work, including Team Pokecuties.

"Listen you two... Do you think Azelf and his friends are doing okay?" Peach said as she laid in her bed that night.

"Of course they're doing okay! They've got the great Dusknoir on their side! There's no way they can lose!" Mario said.

"Are you really sure he's that strong?" Shinji asked.

"Of course I am!" Mario said.

"Good night you two. I'm going to go to sleep now..." Peach said.

"Good night, Peach," Mario said.

"WAKE UP! It's MORNING!" Loudred shouted with his ultra loud voice.

"It's not worth arguing with you anymore..." Peach said after she woke up. They all went to do the morning cheers after a few seconds. After the morning cheers, Chatot said almost the same exact things he said the day before when the emergency siren sounded.

"Officer Magnemite is here!" Diglett announced.

"ZZZT! We are pleased to annonce that both Grovyle and Himeka have finally been captured! But wait, there's more! They were both captured by the great Dusknoir! He said that he will be going back to the future with them! ZZZT!"

"Dusknoir is leaving...?" Peach was a little disappointed, "Going back to the future... how do you do that anyway?" Peach wondered.

"ZZZT! I do not know the exact process! ZZZT! But I have heard that they will be going thorough a tunnel called a dimensional hole! ZZZT! He opened one in the town square! ZZZT! Dusknoir told us that he wanted to say goodbye before he leaves! Meet him at Treasure Town's square! ZZZT!" Magnemite said. They all hurried to the town square. When they got there, everyone was there except for Dusknoir, Grovyle, and Himeka. There was a dimensional hole at the front. Bidoof tried to touch it.

"ZZZT! Stop! Once you touch it, you'll be sent to the future instantly! ZZZT!" Magnezone stopped him.

"Hey, Azelf! And Mesprit and Uxie too! How was the plan? Did it work?" Peach asked them.

"Yup. Thanks to Dusknoir, it was flawless. Grovyle and Himeka have been captured. We also got back the time gears he stole. We'll put them back where they belong. Dusknoir should be here in a bit," Azelf said. No sooner had he said that, Dusknoir came with Grovyle, Himeka, and some Sableye. Both Grovyle and Himeka were tied up and muzzled. There were tears in Himeka's eyes.

"Wow. Grovyle even looks like a BAD guy. The world was NEARLY ruined because of him and that human," Loudred said. Himeka shot a sad look at him. They walked in front of the dimensional hole.

"Everyone! I want to share some excellent news with you! Grovyle and Himeka... have been captured!" Dusknoir said. Everyone cheered.

"Nothing less from the great Dusknoir!" Alice said.

"This was all because of your support and cooperation. I can't thank you enough!" Dusknoir thanked everyone. Everyone cheered again. "You see, Grovyle and Himeka are both vicious and wicked. Their capture should result in everlasting peace." Grovyle shook his head while Himeka's eyes widened.

"Mmmmf! Mmmmf!" Grovyle tried to speak. Himeka also tried.

"It looks like they muzzled both of them..." Mario stated the obvious.

"But... that means I'll be leaving," Dusknoir said, "Everyone! This is goodbye." Everyone was sad. "Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf... I entrust you with the rest."

"ZZZT! Thank you for everything! ZZZT! You have saved us all! ZZZT!" Officer Magnezone said.

"Oh no no... I was only able to do it with your help. I hope that all of you will work to preserve the peace," Dusknoir said.

"ZZZT! You can count on us! ZZZT!" Magnezone said.

"I'm afraid the time to leave is now," Dusknoir said and turned around to see the Sableye push Grovyle and Himeka into the dimensional hole. "Everyone! Even though it pains me... I must leave." Everyone started to cry, even Peach. Dusknoir turned to leave, but then he stopped. "Oh, yes. Before I go, I must see two very special Pokemon. Peach, and Mario!" Dusknoir turned around.

"I feel it's a trap... but I also feel this is the only way to advance the plot. So, let's go, Mario," Peach said. They both went up to Dusknoir.

"I guess this is goodbye... Dusknoir... sir!" Mario said with tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, I might as well say it... Goodbye, Dusknoir, for everything you've done," Peach reluctantly said while looking away. There were tears in her eyes, too.

"Well, this is goodbye... Or is it?" Dusknoir said suddenly.

"What? What do you mean!" Peach was very surprised. Dusknoir raised his hands and the mouth on his stomach opened.

"It's way too soon for goodbyes! You two..." Dusknoir grabbed them and said, "are coming with me!"

"H-hands off! Let go of me this instant!" Peach shouted at Dusknoir. He ignored her and dragged them into the dimensional hole. When he was inside, the hole closed.

** Ok, that's the end of this chapter! So, what do you think? Please post it as a review! Thank you for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15 The Very Dark Future

**It's chapter 15 already? Thank you for your support! Now let's get started!**

**Disclaimer, again: I own nothing! Nintendo owns Pokemon. I have no idea why I write these, honestly.**

**Chapter 15**

**The Very Dark Future**

Inside the dimensional hole, Peach felt like she was spinning around. She and Mario were quickly knocked out.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Master Dialga..." Dusknoir said at the top of a ruined tower, "While there was some more difficulty than anticipated... That Piplup almost didn't fall for it, but I finally succeeded in the capture, yes." A pair of red eyes appeared and a figure started to glow.

"GRRRRRR..." the figure growled.

"I fully understand. Those who seek to change history... must be put to death. I will see to the killing immediately," Dusknoir said. The figure growled again. "As you wish, Master Dialga. I'm leaving now."

Meanwhile, Peach and Mario found themselves in a prison cell. "Hey... Peach... Wake up Peach!" Mario woke her up.

"Ugh," she said as she opened her eyes, "Where are we?" She asked.

"I don't know. I think it's a jail," Mario responded.

"J-jail? But we didn't do anything wrong!" Peach was clearly surprised.

"I just woke up, so I'm not sure what exactly is going on either. I tried the doors, but they're locked. There is no other way out. I think that we're locked up... " Peach looked around a little and walked over to the doors to test them, but they failed to open.

"How did we end up this way? I think what happened was that Dusknoir grabbed us and dragged us into the dimensional hole... What the heck? Does this mean this is the future?" Mario looked around, panicking. "But that's impossible! I can't believe this! I mean, this is the future? It looks so... grey. Why are we even here anyway?" He looked around again. "But Peach... this room is constructed like nothing I've ever seen. Maybe this actually is..." He was interrupted by Peach.

"Isn't that obvious? We're in the future. You've said it a million times already. It's really starting to get annoying," Peach said.

"Waah! Peach! Did we really end up in the future?" Mario said.

"Um, duh, and stop saying future," Peach said.

"What should we do, Peach? So if this place is the future... how are we supposed to get back to our time?" Suddenly, the ground rumbled and the doors opened and four Sableye came in. The one in the front was wearing something that looked like an eyepatch.

"They're awake. How convenient." The one with the eyepatch turned to the other Sableye. "All right. We'll do this quickly. That Piplup will try to attack us if this isn't quick," The Sableye surrounded Peach and Mario and blindfolded them.

"Hands off the Piplup!" Peach shouted.

"Waah! They blindfolded us!" Mario screamed.

"Can't you see that?" Peach asked.

"I can't see a thing!" Mario said.

"Come with us," A Sableye said.

"Ow... stop shoving me!" Peach shouted at the Sableye.

" This blindfold makes it impossible to tell where they are taking us... I really wish we could see," Mario said quietly.

"We're here," a Sableye said. They removed their blindfolds.

"Wh-where am I?" Mario said, "They have me tied up. I can't move at all... Why would this happen?" He said.

"Mario!" Peach called from the left of him, "Am I glad to see you! I'm glad that you're okay!"

"You two are absolutely clueless about what's about to happen... I guess it's okay to be nonchalant about it," A voice said to the left of her. It was soon revealed to be Grovyle.

"Grovyle! Are you okay? What's going to happen?" Himeka was at the left from him. They were both tied up like Mario and Peach were.

"I was wondering that too! What is going to happen?" Peach asked.

"You three... do you know where you are at all?" Grovyle said.

"Of course not!" Peach said.

"This is a stockade... They're preparing to kill us," He said.

"What? Did they say they were preparing to kill us?" Peach was rather surprised.

"You heard me," Grovyle said.

"B-but that's not possible in a Pokemon game! I understand why they would want to kill you, Grovyle, and Himeka, but why us? We didn't do anything wrong at all!" Peach said.

"Do you really think I'd care about you? Honestly, I couldn't care less," Grovyle said.

"Grovyle! That is so rude!" Himeka shouted at Grovyle.

"Himeka, I'm only telling the truth," Grovyle looked at Himeka and then he looked at Mario and Peach, "I'm guessing you did something they can't tolerate."

"What did you just say?" Peach screamed at Grovyle.

"Again, you heard me, you must of done something they can't tolerate, that's all," Grovyle said.

"But we didn't do anything wrong! We're not like you two!" Mario was clearly angry like Peach. Himeka's look became a sad one.

"Again, do you really think I actually care about what happens to you two? You two are just wasting your time losing your cool. Meanwhile... look... here they come," Grovyle said. Six Sableye came into the room.

"W-who are they? Aren't those the guys who blindfolded us?" Himeka asked.

"Yep. Those are the jailers who do all of Dusknoir's dirty work. They happen to also be his underlings," Grovyle explained.

"What? The great Dusknoir's?" Mario was surprised.

"Speaking of the not so great Dusknoir, here he comes," Himeka said with no enthusiasm in her voice. Dusknoir came into the room.

"Lord Dusknoir. The four have been tied to the stakes," The Sableye with the eyepatch said.

"Good," Dusknoir said.

"Dusknoir, sir! It's me, Mario! Remember, the Pikachu who you saved at Amp Plains?" Dusknoir ignored him.

"Those four... we need to kill them immediately," Dusknoir said.

"No! You can't!" Himeka screamed.

"Don't listen to them. When I say so, attack," Dusknoir said. The Sableye jumped in the air and laughed an evil laugh and walked over to where Peach, Mario, Grovyle and Himeka were.

"Wait! Dusknoir! What has gotten into you? Why are you doing this to me and my best friend?" Peach hollered at Dusknoir.

"Don't waste your breath. Instead... keep your voices down so they won't hear you at all... It's for your own good..." Grovyle said.

"K-keep our voices down?" Mario asked quietly.

"Listen. If you want to not die, give me your full cooperation," Grovyle said.

"Help you, Grovyle? Why should we? You almost killed my best friend," Peach asked.

"Do you want to live, or die right here?" Grovyle responded. "Psst... you over there! What should we do?" He whispered to Peach.

"Um, I think we should attack!" She whispered back, "Himeka can just kick."

"That will do..." Grovyle whispered.

"We are ready!" The Sableye with the eyepatch said to Dusknoir. They slashed the air with their claws.

"Very well. Don't take your eyes off of them until the end, especially that Grovyle," Dusknoir said.

"Can I kill the Piplup?" The Sableye with the eyepatch asked. Dusknoir only nodded.

"Kill them... now!" Dusknoir commanded them. The Sableye started coming towards them.

"Listen, Sableye use their claws to strike," Grovyle said.

"That sounds scary! I'm a little afraid of those," Himeka said.

"That opens one way to escape. The Sableye will use their Fury Swipes in a frenzy... That is our chance. If even one of their attack hit our ropes, they will break. That's when we'll attack and flee!" Grovyle said.

"But, what if their Fury Swipes don't hit the ropes, or they use a different move?" Mario asked.

"To put it simply, we're toast," Grovyle said. The Sableye started slashing the ropes. Himeka and Mario screamed loudly in pain.

"Endure it, you idiots!" Grovyle was also in pain, "Wait for your chance!"

"But, if we wait too long, we'll be dead before our chance comes!" Himeka said. Suddenly, there was a break in the rope.

"Now!" Grovyle shouted. They used a regular attack on the Sableye while Himeka kicked the Sableye that slashed her. They got out of their bonds quickly. "There! Take this!" Grovyle held a Luminous orb in his hand and threw it on the ground, causing a huge flash.

"Stay alert! It's just a Luminous Orb! It wears off quickly!" Dusknoir shouted to his lackeys. When it finally wore off, Grovyle, Peach, Mario, and Himeka were gone. "That Grovyle! They won't get away with this! Come!" With that, Dusknoir and his underlings left. When they were gone, Grovyle, Peach, Mario, and Himeka came up from the ground. Himeka spit out some dirt from her mouth.

"We're alive! We're really alive!" Peach said happily. She hugged Mario without thinking.

"We're out of that scrape, but we're not entirely safe yet. We need to get out of here, and we need to do it fast," Grovyle said. With that, they ran outside. When they were finally out, they noticed something horrible.

"Waah! What's this?" Mario said, "This is our world...?" The world was exactly like Dusknoir's description of a paralyzed world. Boulders were floating in midair, and the trees were bare. Suddenly, they heard a Sableye's laugh and they started to run. When Mario became tired, they stopped near a cave. Mario breathed heavily.

"All right, this forms a natural alcove. This should shield us from view. After a quick rest, we should keep moving," Grovyle said.

"Wait a minute... we only cooperated because we had to, but we didn't promise to go with you afterward! A Pokemon who tried to kill my partner... shouldn't be trusted, sorry," Peach said.

"Humph! So I'm the bad guy, and that Dusknoir is the good guy? As if! They didn't just want to kill Himeka and I, they wanted to kill you too!" Grovyle pouted.

"But I can't trust you, Grovyle, I just can't!" Peach said.

"Well then, earning your trust is no easy task. I thought that having useful allies would help, but..." Grovyle was cut off by Himeka.

"I'm not useful?" She asked Grovyle.

"No, you slow me down. Remember how long it took to get to Fogbound Lake?" Grovyle responded. Himeka said nothing. "Anyway, there's no point in continuing without trust. We'll go separate ways. I'm staying on the move. You three should get moving as soon as possible," Grovyle said.

"Three of us? But there's only two of us..." Mario realized what Grovyle meant quickly, "Wait, you're leaving Himeka behind?" Grovyle only nodded and then he went inside the cave.

"He really left me behind... well, I'll go with you into that mystery dungeon with you..." Himeka was interrupted by Mario.

"Shouldn't we wait until morning? I mean, it's really dark out..." Himeka interrupted him.

"Sorry, but morning never comes. It's because in this world... the planet is paralyzed," She said.

"The planet... paralyzed? No wonder it's like Dusknoir described!" Peach was taken aback by what she had said.

"Yes, Grovyle told me when we first met," She said.

"Wait... If you lived here, wouldn't you know that?" Mario asked.

"Yeah, I guess so... but I'm not from here..." Himeka was interrupted by a Sableye's laugh. "Oh no! They're near! We have to leave immediately!" They ran into the cave.

**Chasm Cave B1F**

The first thing they noticed when they were inside was that there was no walls.

"This is one strange cave. If we take one wrong step, we could fall," Himeka said.

"Himeka, how useful are you, anyway?" Peach asked.

"Well, I can hold your treasure bag and throw things, that's about it," Himeka said. Peach gave her the treasure bag.

"Here, you can hold this. Give it back when we're out of here," Peach said as she handed it to her. Himeka nodded. They ran as fast as they could, and they only stopped to fight Pokemon like Onix and Magnemite. They found the stairs after a few minutes.

"Look there's the stairs! If we walk on these, we'll go to the next floor," Himeka tried to explain.

"We know that! Mario and I have been exploring mystery dungeons ever since we met," Peach said.

"Oh, sorry," Himeka apologized. They went to the stairs and then they went to the next floor.

**Skipping to the end...**

"Look! Could that be the exit? Let's go!" Mario said. They came to a place where there was water frozen in time.

"Huff-huff..." Himeka was out of breath, "Did we escape those Sableye? Let's rest right now..." She said. Mario and Peach agreed.

"Oh! There's water over there!" Mario, Peach, and Himeka went over to the water, "This water isn't flowing at all. This gushing water is totally suspended in space!" Mario noticed, "Is Himeka right? Is the planet really paralyzed? Why did Dusknoir bring us here in the first place? He was so kind to us... He even saved our lives multiple times... I just don't know what to believe now... If only there was a way to know the truth..." He had a sad look on his face and then suddenly, the look disappeared when he realized something, "Oh! Your dimensional scream! It can help us find out the truth!" He turned to Peach.

"Huh?" Peach was very surprised.

"Touch this water! You may see something!" Mario said.

"Oh, okay..." She touched the water, but nothing happened.

"Did you see something?" Mario asked.

"No... I saw nothing at all..." Peach said

"Um... excuse me... we've spent a lot of time here. If we don't get going soon... those Sableye will catch up to us, so we better get going soon..." Himeka spoke up. Mario and Peach agreed. They went into the mystery dungeon called Dark Hill as soon as they could.

**15 floors later...**

"Huff-huff... We've been climbing a lot now..." Mario said, out of breath. They walked past a tree and to a place where a lot of lights were visible.

"Wow! Look at that, you two!" Himeka said. They walked to the edge to get a better look of the lights.

"It's true... this world really is a world of darkness..." Mario had a sad look on his face, "Those lights... they must be from the stockades. Hey," He turned to Peach, "The great Dusknoir saved us more than once. He also taught us many things, like about your dimensional scream ability. That's why... I respected him. But why... did he betray us like that? Even after all that's happened, I still can't believe it. I just don't know what to believe... I'm feeling all confused..." He said.

"Mario..." Peach sighed.

"What should we believe? What should we do now? How far do we have to run? How do we get back to our world? Everyone at the guild... I wonder how they're doing? They must be worried about us. I miss them... I want to see everyone again!" Mario had tears in his eyes.

"I... want to see everyone too! Even Chatot and Loudred!" Peach said. "Wait... there's still hope! Mario, let's find Grovyle!" She said. Mario was taken aback by what she had said.

"What? Are you crazy? Why do you think we should go after him?" He asked.

"I-I just want to know something, that's all! Plus, if we find him, I can take Himeka off my flippers," Peach said.

"Hey! That's not nice! She was useful when we were in those two mystery dungeons! Sure, she wasted all of our apples and berries, used our orbs at every opportunity..." Mario went through all of the reasons she wasn't helpful and when he was done, he couldn't find any reasons why she was helpful, "Okay, she was as helpful as a living rock, but we just can't leave her with Grovyle like that! Changing the subject... you wanted to know something right? What did you want to know?" He asked.

"I want to know how to travel back to our world," She said.

"Oh, I see... Grovyle traveled from here to our world, so he should know how to get back there. But... isn't Grovyle a bad Pokemon? Didn't he come to our world to steal the time gears? Didn't he try to kill me once? How can we trust him?" Mario asked.

"Well, can you trust Dusknoir after what he did to us?" Peach asked.

"I guess not..." Mario said.

"My point exactly," Peach said.

"Well, I still can't trust Grovyle! I would never trust a Pokemon like that! But... I understand what you're trying to say. Dusknoir tried to kill us, and I don't know why. That means the only others we know in the future are Grovyle and Himeka..." He was interrupted by Himeka.

"Actually... the only other one from the future that you know is Grovyle," She said.

"What? Are you trying to say that you're not from the future?" Peach was very surprised.

"Yes, I am. I tried to tell you earlier, but I guess you didn't hear me. The truth is... that I really come from another dimension. A dimension where Pokemon are nothing more than creatures in a video game. You see... I was looking for my daughter, who has been missing for two years, when a dimensional hole opened up in front of me. I was curious, so I touched it. Before I knew it, I was in your world," Himeka was interrupted by Mario.

"You have a daughter?" he asked.

"Yeah, her name is..." she was interrupted by Peach.

"You know... if we stay here too long... the Sableye will catch up to us," She said.

"You're right. We should look for Grovyle now. Hey," Mario turned to Peach, "Thank you for picking me up when I was down. I really appreciate it. I'm glad to have you by my side. I won't give up! I can be brave because of you. That's why I lo-" He caught himself and stopped himself from saying what he was about to say and blushed, "Let's get back to our time... together!" Peach nodded and the threesome were on their way. They stopped at an entrance to a mystery dungeon.

"The patch has been straight so far with no forks in the road. Grovyle should be inside this mystery dungeon, so let's catch up to him!" Himeka said. Peach and Mario nodded and then they went into the mystery dungeon.

**Skipping to the midpoint...**

"Grovyle can't be far from us now... Let's tough it out, you two!" Mario said. They went on to the next part of the dungeon.

"I've gone quite deep. It's not much farther now," Grovyle came to a room with a suspicious rock in it, "If I get through here... I should be at the forest. The Sableye are coming. There's no time to waste," He turned around to where he came, "That reminds me, I wonder how those three are doing? Have they escaped them? Oh, forget it. I have to give priority to my mission no matter what! I vowed to complete it even if it means making sacrifices! Time to go," He started to walk past the overly suspicious rock when he heard a voice come from it.

"You there! STOP!" it said. Grovyle looked around.

"Who's there?" He said.

"You INVADE this place with no warning! Then you DISTURB our slumber with your talking! Then, without APOLOGIZING, you try to leave?" The voice said.

"Who are you?" Grovyle was very surprised.

"You DARE anger us? You shall PAY for those insults!" the voice said.

"Quit hiding and reveal yourself already!" Grovyle said

"You accuse us of HIDING? We do NOT hide. We are right BEHIND you!" The voice shouted. The screen darkened. "We are SPIRITOMB! We show NO MERCY for transgressors!" He said. There was a strange noise and Grovyle screamed.

**Later...**

"Grovyle! Are you alright?" Himeka asked when she saw him. He was covered in some purple stuff with electricity crackling.

"S-stay back!" Grovyle shouted.

"Why?" Himeka asked.

"An enemy lurks nearby! He's dangerous!" Grovyle said.

"But I don't see anything..." Peach said.

"He's right beside you, Mario!" Grovyle said. Mario turned around to the rock.

"You mean this seemingly harmless rock?" He asked. The rock moved and Mario jumped back and screamed. Spiritomb laughed a little bit.

"All those who TRESSPASS upon this land... Shall PAY! Not least of all... YOU!" Spiritomb said loudly.

"W-who is it? Who are you? Why do you speak like that?" Mario asked. Spiritomb laughed a little.

"You ask that of US? We are SPIRTOMB! We are a FUSION of spirits... 108 of them!" He said rather loud.

"B-be careful you three! He's really powerful!" Grovyle said.

"PREPARE to take your punishment!" A fight started between Team Pokecuties and Spiritomb. The battle was rather easy to win. After losing, Spiritomb ran away and the purple stuff on Grovyle disappeared. Peach, Mario, and Himeka barely understood what just happened. Grovyle explained that they got spooked and ran.

"Grovyle! A-are you okay now? Did that Pokemon hurt you?" Mario asked. Himeka, Peach, and Mario went over to where Grovyle was.

"I'll be fine now..." He said. Himeka asked if he could get up. "Somehow..." He stood up. "That Pokemon you faced... he was very cunning. He went up my nose and took control of my body..." Grovyle was cut off by Peach.

"Yuck! That's just gross... So that Pokemon was a bad Pokemon?" Peach said.

"No. He was probably upset over us trespassing in its space. He became so angry that he lost control of himself. But you saw what happened when the situation was bad. He ran. He's usually a timid Pokemon. There are many Pokemon like this in this world. They should be good... but the darkness made them twisted and bitter," Grovyle explained.

"So good Pokemon go bad in this world... it's sad," Mario said.

"You two! Will you finally trust me now?" Grovyle asked.

"Um... we have no choice," Peach said.

"Good. I'll tell you about the future. I'm leaving, so please follow me," Grovyle left while Peach, Mario, and Himeka followed.

"This will do," Grovyle said as they came to a bunch of rocks, "Those Sableye won't be able to spot us easily here."

"Tell us how the planet's paralysis began, Grovyle," Peach said.

"The cause dates back to your time, starting with the collapse of Temporal Tower, which was governed by Dialga," Grovyle started to explain, "He is the legendary Pokemon who controls time. He ensured the flow of time from Temporal Tower, but when it collapsed, time gradually got out of control... and eventually, the planet became paralyzed. When time went out of control, so did Dialga. He has lost almost all reason, and is now governed by darkness. He's now beyond recognition. He has transformed into Primal Dialga, a primordial presence who feels no emotion. He seeks self-preservation, so he prevents history from changing. That's why he wants me gone. Because I tried to change history and to stop the planet's paralysis. That's why I traveled from my world to yours," Grovyle explained.

"What? You're saying that you traveled to our world to STOP the planet's paralysis and not cause it? That's not what we were told by Dusknoir! Weren't you trying to steal the time gears?" Peach was very surprised.

"You have got to be kidding me! I was collecting them because they were needed for preventing the paralysis of the planet. I needed to take them to Temporal Tower and put them in place. That would have reversed the collapse of the tower, which was fully under way in your time. While it is true that taking a time gear from a specific place causes time to stop in that area... That is only temporary. After the time gears are put into Temporal Tower, time would have been fully returned to normal everywhere," Grovyle explained to them.

"Ack! But then what about all the thing Dusknoir said about you and Himeka? Like how he said you were a wanted outlaw in the future. And how you escaped from the future, and fled to our world in the past. And that Himeka was your best friend. Were they all lies?" Peach asked. Himeka laughed a little.

"What silly things! Grovyle and I are barely even friends!" She said.

"What else could it possibly be? It's because Dusknoir is an agent sent from this world to yours by Primal Dialga... to get rid of me. He didn't know about Himeka until recently," Grovyle said.

"What! Dusknoir was an agent sent to get rid of you?" Mario and Peach were surprised.

"You heard me. I have said that Primal Dialga will try to thwart any attempt to change history. That's why, when he learned I traveled thorough time, he sent Dusknoir after me," Grovyle said.

"The great Dusknoir? This is all too hard to swallow!" Mario said.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth," Grovyle said.

"I... can't... I can't believe you! I really respect Dusknoir! I can't believe you're saying all these bad things about him!" Mario started to walk away with tears in his eyes.

"Hey, where are you going?" Himeka asked.

"I'm going to see Dusknoir. I want to know the truth about all this," He said.

"Do you have a death wish? You don't stand a single chance against them!" Grovyle shouted at him.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Mario hollered at Grovyle.

"What are you supposed to do? Didn't you wonder this earlier? And you decided that you would decide for yourself! You insisted that because you didn't know what to believe, and you'd think for yourself!" Grovyle yelled back at him.

"You've got a point," his voice got quiet.

"It's times like this... that you have to be strong. Think for yourself, then act as you deem right," Grovyle started to walk away.

"What are you going to do now, Grovyle?" Himeka asked.

"I'm going to the past to prevent the planet's paralysis. To do that I need to see Celebi," He said.

"Cel... Celebi?" Mario was confused.

"You heard me. You can come with me or not. It's your choice. You three decide on your own. I'm off," he said and left.

"Ack... he left me behind again... Well, I better follow him. I'm leaving," Himeka left to follow Grovyle.

"Peach, yes, I know. What Grovyle said was true. Things are extremely tough now, that's why we have to be strong. I'm all right now, so let's go follow Grovyle and Himeka," Mario said. Peach nodded and then they were on their way.

Meanwhile, Dusknoir was at the top of the ruined Temporal Tower. Primal Dialga growled.

"Master Dialga. The stage has finally been set for the capture of the traitors. When the time comes, I will need your help," Dusknoir said. Dialga growled again. "As you wish. By your leave, we shall proceed." Meanwhile, Grovyle, Himeka, Mario, and Peach came to a forest. Peach had a nagging feeling that she had been there before.

"This is Dusk Forest. Its name comes from the dark fog that surronds it. Deep in this forest is where Celebi lives," Grovyle said.

"Who is Celebi?" Himeka asked.

"Celebi is the legendary Time Travel Pokemon. She has the ability to cross time. But... she's a little odd... But anyway, Celebi's ability enabled me to go to the past," Grovyle explained.

"So if we find Celebi, she'll be able to return us to our world?" Mario said.

"Yes, but... she helped me get to the past. That means she is helping reshape history, so she is in trouble too. We have no time to waste. We need to go as soon as you're ready," Grovyle said. They got ready and then they went into Dusk Forest.

**Skipping to the end...**

"We're in the deepest part of the forest. Celebi should be here," Grovyle said when they were out of the mystery dungeon. "Celebi, it's me, Grovyle!" There was no response.

"Where's Celebi?" Mario asked.

"Strange, she must have been caught..." Grovyle said sadly.

"Caught? Silly Grovyle! I can never be caught!" a female sounding voice said. A pink Celebi appeared out of nowhere. Everyone was surprised.

"That's Celebi?" Mario said.

"What, am I cuter than you expected?" She asked.

"Oh! She really is cute!" Peach said.

"My dear Grovyle, I see you brought your friend!" She turned to Peach and then shook her head, "No, never mind..."

"Huh?" Peach was very confused.

"Celebi, we need to use the passage of time to get back to the past because..." Grovyle was interrupted by Celebi.

"You failed?" She said. Grovyle groaned a little.

"Yes, just don't rub it in my face," He said.

"Ok, I'll guide you to it! Follow me!" Celebi said and left while everyone else followed, unaware that they were spied on by a Sableye.

**After going through a mystery dungeon...**

"Ok, we're here! This is the passage of time!" Celebi guided them to the passage of time.

"Only Celebi can open it," Grovyle said and turned to Celebi, "Ok, open it now."

"Stop! That will do for now!" A voice shouted.

"That voice... it can't be..." Peach was stunned.

"Hello to you all. It's been a while, yes?" Dusknoir was in front of the passage of time.

"Dusknoir! Since when did you get here? You weren't there a second ago!" Peach was very surprised, to say the least.

"I've been waiting for a while for you to come," Dusknoir responded, "Your scurrying only took you so far... but that's all over now." Six Sableye laughed and surrounded them.

"The Sableye came too... what a surprise," Grovyle said sarcastically. "You are really crafty, Dusknoir. You kept an eye on us the whole time, so you could capture all of us at the same time. I seriously didn't see this coming. I'm sorry, Celebi," Grovyle apologized.

"Oh my. Apologies don't suit you, my dear Grovyle. Besides, you know I can never be caught!" Celebi said. The Sableye came closer, forcing the four Pokemon and the human to go closer together.

"Are you ready to fight, everyone?" Grovyle asked, "We need to push our way through and then dive into the passage of time!" he said.

"That will do! I live to fight!" Peach was getting pumped.

"Grovyle, do you really think I came alone?" Dusknoir suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Grovyle was very surprised.

"Now, Master Dialga!" Suddenly, it turned pitch black. A figure started glowing and suddenly, it roared. When the lights went back on, it was revealed to be Primal Dialga.

"That's...!" Grovyle said.

"Grovyle! Who is that?" Peach was surprised as he was. She had never seen anything like it.

"That's... Primal Dialga..." Grovyle tried to hide the fear in his voice.

"What's wrong Grovyle? Where's your fighting spirit now?" Dusknoir taunted him.

"My dear Grovyle..." Celebi sighed.

"It... it ran away..." Grovyle was clearly scared, "Everyone, I'm sorry but... this is it for us... we're toast."

"What? But why? Aren't we going to fight?" Peach was surprised.

"We don't stand a chance against Primal Dialga. It's hopeless..." Grovyle had lost all hope whatsoever, "I surrender, Dusknoir. Do with me... as you will."

"What's wrong, Grovyle? It's not like you to give up so darn easily," Dusknoir said.

"I''m giving up. But... there is still hope," Grovyle turned to Celebi, "You remember, Celebi... when I traveled to the past, I was not alone. I had a friend," He said.

"A-a friend? You never mentioned that to me!" Himeka shouted at him.

"You heard me. We headed to the past together. But... something happened and we were separated. My partner should still be in the past. Even if I am killed... my partner will carry out my mission for me. My partner will prevent the planet's paralysis," Grovyle said. Suddenly, Dusknoir laughed evilly.

"Grovyle, would you mind telling everyone your partner's name?" He asked.

"Dusknoir, why would you ask that? Even you know my partner's name," Grovyle said.

"Can't say it?" Dusknoir asked.

"No, that's not true. My partner's name is... Peach. She was my best friend..." Grovyle said. All of a sudden, both Himeka and Peach got really shaky.

"That's... that's..." Tears started coming from Himeka's eyes, "My daughter's name!"

"But... that's my name!" Peach said weakly. Dusknoir laughed.

"What an interesting development! So this Piplup here is both Grovyle's partner and Himeka's daughter! I wasn't expecting that!" he laughed again.

"But this can't be my partner... she isn't. Because the Peach I know... is a human."

"And my daughter was also a human!" Dusknoir laughed.

"Precisely! My good friend Grovyle, that Piplup you see there is definitely your partner. And Himeka, she is also your daughter. That Piplup you see was once a human!" Dusknoir laughed again.

"What?" Himeka and Grovyle shouted at the same time.

"Master Dialga gave me a mission... It was to get rid of you, Grovyle and Peach because you traveled to the past. I traveled to the past in pursuit of you both. There, I gathered intelligence that might help me find you. At one point, I met team Pokecuties. There were three members, one was almost never around when I was near. And guess what this particular member's name was? It was Shinji."

"What? S-Shinji? I-I thought he was dead!" Grovyle was surprised.

"Yes, he was supposed to be dead, but now he's back. Anyway, at that point I suspected nothing, or at least until Peach told me her name. It was then I was certain it was her! So that Peach has lost her memory, and transformed into a Pokemon which must be because of what happened in your time travel. Well, her memory loss was lucky for me! After all, she failed to recognize me. It was easy to win over her trust, and drag her here when the time came!" Dusknoir laughed.

"So you really were lying all this time! That's it! I'll never forgive you for betraying everyone like that! Never ever!" Peach yelled at Dusknoir.

"Which left only you, Grovyle and Himeka. Honestly, I was surprised when I first heard of you from Mario, Himeka. I'm even more surprised that Peach is your daughter! Grovyle and Peach! This ends here! It's time to destroy your last glimmer of hope, Grovyle!" Dusknoir laughed.

"No, you're wrong! Dusknoir!" Peach shouted.

"Ha! What am I wrong about, Peach?" Dusknoir asked.

"This isn't the end! Grovyle! Mario! Himeka! We must not give up!" Peach said.

"You're saying not to give up...?" Himeka tried to confirm what Peach said.

"Yes, there is always hope! That's why..! That's why we must not ever give up, no matter what! Grovyle, you know that better than me, right?" Peach said and smiled a bit.

"She's right! Celebi, can your time travel powers take us the short distance to the passage of time?" Mario asked.

"Um... yes! I can! But it won't be easy with Dialga here! He controls time itself!" Celebi said.

"Great! Let's go!" Peach said in a rush.

"Attack!" Dusknoir ordered the Sableye. They were about to attack when the five disappeared into thin air. "They vanished? Master Dialga!" He turned to Primal Dialga. Dialga then broke their time travel.

"Dive into the passage of time! You can make it!" Celebi said. The four of them did just that. When Dusknoir and the Sableye went over to capture Celebi, she just disappeared.

**Ok... I edited the chapter because it was so bad. Please review as usual! Bye-bye!**


	16. Chapter 16 Back Home

**Ok... the last chapter was REALLY bad, I admit. This chapter will be better, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: I really don't own anything. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo**

**Chapter 16:**

**Back Home**

The passage of time was just like a dimensional hole. The three Pokemon and Himeka spun around like crazy.

"Wait, isn't this contradicting the third chapter?" Grovyle pointed out. There was no response from anyone. They were all knocked out quickly. When Peach woke up, she found that she was on the beach where she and Mario met. She went to Mario and shook him awake.

"Mario! We're home!" She shouted.

"That's nice... wait... isn't this the beach where we met?" he asked.

"Ugh..." Grovyle and Himeka woke up at the same time.

"W-where is this place? Where are we?" Himeka said faintly.

"Himeka! Grovyle!" Mario got their attention and walked to the exact spot where he met Peach, "I met Peach at this exact spot! She was out cold!"

"Oh, isn't that nice," Himeka said.

"I see. So, Peach, you ended up here while I ended up in the Eastern Forest. We were very far away from each other," Grovyle said. Mario started to walk away. "Mario, where are you going?" Grovyle asked.

"I'm going to Wigglytuff's Guild. They should give us a place to stay-" He was cut off by Himeka.

"Are you nuts, Mario? Grovyle and I are still considered wanted criminals in this world, remember?" Himeka shouted at him.

"Y-you're right. Oh!" Mario realized something, "I know a good place to stay, but we'll have to go through Treasure Town to get to it. Is that okay, you two?"

"As long as we lay low and get through there quickly we'll be fine," Grovyle said.

"Ok, everyone! Follow me!" Mario led to a cliff that resembled a Sharpedo. "This cliff is known as Sharpedo Bluff because it looks like a Sharpedo," he said when they got there.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Peach said.

"Hey! What was that for?" Himeka shouted at her.

"Mario has a habit of stating the obvious, that's all," Peach said.

"At first, it doesn't look like much, but behold!" Mario cleared the leaves that were covering the entrance. They all walked down the stairs into the Sharpedo's mouth. It wasn't that much, but it was a nice place to hide. "I used to live here. You know, before I joined Wigglytuff's guild with Peach. I'm glad nobody wrecked this place," he said.

"Nice place you got, Mario," Peach said.

"Thank you. It's quite roomy, isn't it?" Mario said.

"Let's sleep here for the night, and then we can start collecting the time gears in the morning," Grovyle said. Everyone else nodded.

That night, when they had beds and a fire going, they started to talk.

"So, Grovyle, wasn't today crazy?" Mario started the conversation.

"Yes, it was. Finding out that Peach was this Piplup here was surprising. And so was finding out that Peach was Himeka's daughter," He said.

"You mean she never mentioned me when she was traveling with you?" Peach asked.

"No, she didn't," Grovyle responded.

"I still can't believe this Piplup is my daughter. I mean, she isn't the sweet little girl I know-"

"Me? Sweet? As if! Mario knows this better than me!" Peach cut Himeka off and laughed.

"Yes, she's kinda... easily angered. But she can be kinda sweet around me. Especially me," Mario said.

"Peach... you've really changed," Grovyle said.

"How so?" Peach asked. She was very curious.

"I mean, you've stopped depending on other Pokemon like me. When you were a human, you always needed me to rescue you when you got in trouble. Mario, you should have seen her when she first went into a monster house. It wasn't pretty," Grovyle said, "I had to run to her rescue. Luckily, I had to rescue her less frequently as she slowly learned to fight. She had a good throwing arm. Did you see that Sableye with the eyepatch?" Grovyle asked.

"Yes, why?" Peach said, confused.

"When you were practicing throwing on a tree with an Iron Thorn , that particular Sableye was watching you. You had such bad aim at the time that when you threw the Iron Thorn, it completely missed the target and hit the Sableye in the eye when it climbed the tree. When you noticed it, you came screaming to me. We had to leave the area after that," Grovyle explained.

"Oh..." Himeka said while reading some papers.

"What are you reading?" Mario asked.

"Just a story Peach wrote when she was a human. I keep it in my bag at all times, except when I'm reading it," she responded.

"I didn't know you had a bag..." Peach said.

"Yeah, you didn't notice it? I keep it with me at all times," Himeka said.

"No... it was never mentioned," Peach said.

"Does anyone want to read this?" Himeka ignored Peach and raised the story in the air.

"I guess it won't hurt..." Mario took the story and started reading it. It was about a blatant mary sue self insert fighting popular girls and bullies for no reason. It had multiple spelling and grammar errors. "Ow... this is physically painful to read..." Mario couldn't finish the story and handed it to Peach, who also read it.

"I was really THAT bad of a writer? This isn't original at all! Mario is right. This IS physically painful to read!" She handed it to Grovyle, who refused.

"No, I won't read that. I'll just hand it back to Himeka," Grovyle took it and handed back to Himeka.

"Why were you reading that piece of crud?" Peach asked Himeka.

"It is really bad, but I like reading it because of that. It's so bad at times that it's good," Himeka explained.

"Oh, I remember! When Peach and I were in the future, she used to write stories with paper and a pencil she had in her backpack. I usually cringed when she forced me to read them. They were really bad, but she enjoyed writing them. That's why she kept writing," Grovyle remembered.

"Enough talking about me! Let's talk about something else," Peach said.

"I was getting tired of talking only about you anyway. The dimensional scream helped us find the time gears while we were in the future. It only worked on things that had to do with the time gears. Also, she had to be with a trusted Pokemon partner, which was me at the time. One thing does puzzle me is that her first dimensional scream was triggered before we met. It would have normally been impossible to trigger it," Grovyle said.

"Great! You're still talking about me! That just makes this day even better," Peach said sarcastically.

"Wait... there's something I don't understand. If Himeka came from another dimension, isn't Peach from where Himeka came from?" Mario asked.

"That's right. She was the last human in this world after all the humans, including Shinji, were executed by Dusknoir," Grovyle explained.

"Hey, can you tell me more about Shinji? Like, before he... you know... died?" Peach asked.

"I knew his father from a long time ago. He was executed before I knew Shinji. Shinji and I met while we were both in a mystery dungeon. I had stepped on an explosion trap and was badly injured. Shinji came to my rescue with a first aid kit. I didn't really need his help, but he insisted on helping me. So I told him to help me to the stairs. It was the final floor of the mystery dungeon, so I was healed automatically," Grovyle explained, "When we were out, I noticed a piece of Temporal Tower on the ground. So, I decided to see if he had the dimensional scream like his father did. I told him to touch it. That's when Dusknoir came and captured us quite easily. They sent us to the stockades where I escaped, but Shinji..." he paused, "he couldn't escape in time. He died of blood loss."

"Oh..." Peach had a sad look on her face.

"Hey, Grovyle, tell us how you met Peach," Mario said to Grovyle.

"Alright, if you insist..." Grovyle told everyone how he met Peach, and how he and Dusknoir were out of character to the extreme.

"Ugh! Stop talking only about me! It's getting on my nerves!" Peach yelled at everybody. There was silence. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep..."

"Goodnight, Peach," Mario said.

The next morning, Grovyle woke up and saw that Mario wasn't in his bed. He went up the stairs and saw that Mario was near the edge of the cliff looking at the sky.

"Good morning, Mario. What brings you here?" he asked. Mario noticed his presence and turned around.

"I was doing some thinking," he responded.

"Thinking about what?" Grovyle asked.

"About our time in the future. What we found out there was shocking, to say the least. First, Dusknoir is evil. Second, Peach is both your old friend and Himeka's daughter. And third, Shinji was dead before we met him," Mario said, "I really respected Dusknoir. That's why I couldn't trust you at first. Now, I trust you," he continued and pulled his relic fragment out of his bag, "This is my relic fragment. It's what brought Peach and I together," he said.

"That's... an interesting pattern. I've never seen anything like it before," Grovyle said.

"Peach... she helps me when I'm down. She helps me be brave when I'm scared. That's why..." he paused, "She's the most important thing to me. I don't know what I would do if I lost her."

"I bet she feels the same way about you," Grovyle said. Just then, the sun started to rise.

"Oh! The sun's rising! You know, after being in the future, this is so renewing. It makes you appreciate what you have," Mario said. Suddenly, Peach and Himeka came up. Mario put his relic fragment back in his bag.

"Hey, Mario! Grovyle! Good morning!" Himeka said and waved. Peach only yawned.

"Come on, let's discuss where to go next," she said.

"Okay, Peach, pull out your wonder map," Grovyle said. She got out the wonder map and opened it.

"Okay, Underground Lake is closest," Mario pointed to its location.

"I say we should go to Treeshroud Forest. The time gear isn't guarded by anybody, so it'll be easier. Plus, it's where I got my first time gear," Grovyle said.

"Ok, we'll go to Treeshroud Forest," Peach said, rather tired.

"Ok then, let's go!" Himeka said energetically. Peach put away her wonder map and then they were on their way.

When they were there, Peach noticed a worried look on Grovyle's face.

"Grovyle, what's wrong?" she asked. Grovyle looked at her and his worried look disappeared.

"It's nothing, Peach. It's just the atmosphere... it feels different somehow..." he said.

"Different? How so?" she asked.

"I... don't know. It just feels different somehow..." he responded.

"I'll take that for an answer. Come on, everyone, let's go into the forest," she said and everyone went into the mystery dungeon.

**Somewhere around 9F...**

"I was right! The atmosphere IS different from before!" Grovyle exclaimed when he saw the different surroundings. The colors were much darker than before, in contrast to the beautiful colors of green and blue. Nothing was moving, except for the Pokemon.

"Reminds me of the future," Mario said quietly.

**Skipping to where the time gear is...**

"There's the time gear! But time is still stopped!" Mario shouted, surprised. They were at the end of the mystery dungeon. They ran over to the time gear.

"Grovyle, isn't time supposed to flow again when a time gear is returned?" Peach asked. A look of pure dread appeared on Grovyle's face.

"Time must be collapsing already..." he said.

"What do you mean by that?" Peach asked.

"Temporal Tower... it's collapsing right as we speak," Grovyle answered and turned to Mario, "Mario, I want you to do something for me when we get back."

"What is it, Grovyle?" Mario asked.

"I want you to find out what's going on in Treasure Town. Lay low and don't be detected while you're doing it," he said.

"That sounds simple enough..." Mario said quietly. Grovyle said nothing and took the time gear.

"Grovyle! What was that for?" Himeka yelled at him.

"Time is already stopped here. Taking the time gear will make no difference," Grovyle simply explained.

"Alright, let's stop talking and go home, ok? Talking is all we seem to do in this fic..." Peach said. No one said a word, knowing that talking might anger Peach.

When they were back at Sharpedo Bluff, Mario went out to Treasure Town. When he got back, he had a grim look on his face.

"Bad news, everyone. I went into Treasure Town like you asked. Bad things are happening right as we speak. Time is stopping in even more areas, and no one knows why," he said.

"Anything else?" Peach asked.

"Well, I saw some pretty weird stuff. First, I saw Shinji piloting a giant robot. Then I saw a boy with a Pikachu claiming he was going to be a Pokemon master. Even stranger, the Pikachu only said its name. The strangest thing I saw was this furry white creature with a fluffy tail!" he said.

"Okay..." Peach was weirded out.

"That settles it. We need to get to the Hidden Land, and we need to do it quickly. If we don't hurry, Temporal Tower will collapse and we won't be able to stop the planet's paralysis from happening," Grovyle said.

"The Hidden Land? What is that?" Mario asked.

"The Hidden Land is where Temporal Tower is located. Nobody knows where it is," Grovyle said.

"We can tell that by the fact its called the Hidden Land, captain obvious!" Peach said quite rudely. Grovyle ignored that rude statement.

"From now on, we're going to split up. I'm going to collect the rest of the time gears with Himeka while you two search for the Hidden Land," Grovyle explained.

"Actually, I'd rather stay with my daughter, if that's okay with you," Himeka spoke up.

"Ok. Your choice," Grovyle said and left.

"Ok, let's go to the beach, so we can see how we can get to the Hidden Land," Himeka said after Grovyle was gone.

"Ok, guys, I'm guessing we'll find the Hidden Land across the sea, but there is one problem. How do we get there?" Mario said once they were at the beach.

"I can swim there because I'm a water type," Peach said proudly.

"What about me and Mario? We both can't swim!" Himeka said.

"Really? Let me see you try to swim," Peach said rudely.

"Fine!" Himeka said without really thinking. She walked into the ocean and five minutes later, she started to act like she was about to drown. By the way, Himeka was only 3 feet into the ocean when she needed Peach to save her. Peach put her flipper to her face and walked into the ocean to save her.

"Boy, you humans are so useless," Peach said as she was dragging Himeka out of the water. She then stopped when she realized something important. "Mario!" she turned to him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We should go to Wigglytuff's Guild!" she said.

"Why should we? How will they react when we tell them about the future? I highly doubt they'll believe us," he said.

"They'll believe us! I just know it. We really need their help!" Peach said boldly.

"Okay... If you insist..." Mario and Peach and Himeka walked off the beach and headed to the guild.

**Okay, as usual, please review! I apologize for the long chat mostly centered around Peach. I also apologize for Grovyle being out of character at the beginning of the chapter. I only made him break the fourth wall because he was the only one who was in the third chapter who actually remembered it. Anyway, I hope you thought this chapter was better than the other one! **


	17. Chapter 17 Help from the Guild

**Okay guys, it's chapter 17! Hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything! Pokemon belongs to Nintendo**

**Chapter 17:**

**Help From the Guild**

After climbing the huge flight of stairs, Mario and Peach stopped in front of the grate.

"Peach, I'm nervous. I mean, how will they react when they see us? We were taken away right in front of them," said Mario. He had a sad look on his face.

"Oh, come on! We'll be fine!" Peach playfully hit Mario in the back.

"You're right. This is no time to be nervous," he said and stepped on the grate.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected!" Diglett's voice sounded from under the grate. "Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Diglett then paused. "The footprint is... the footprint is..."

"WHAT is it, Diglett? Cat got your TONGUE?" Loudred's voice boomed from underground.

"Um, no! The footprint is Pikachu's! The footprint is Pikachu's!" Diglett said.

"WHAT? IS it Mario's footprint?" Loudred's voice boomed once again.

"Yes, it is! I can tell because he's shaking!" Diglett looked up at Mario's shaky footprint.

"That's IMPOSSIBLE!" Loudred said.

"I'm telling the truth! This is Mario's footprint!" Diglett argued.

"If you SAY so. I'll go tell the GUILD they're here!" Loudred said. No sooner had he said that, the gate opened and the ground shook. The guild members burst out of the tent and surrounded Peach and Mario.

"It really is Peach and Mario! Waah!" May cried.

Shinji walked up to Mario and smiled. "It's good to have you back," he said.

"We were all worried about you guys!" Chimecho said.

"Yeah, if anything had happened to you two... I'd... I'd..." Bidoof had tears in his eyes.

"Ack! It's Himeka! What is SHE doing here?" Loudred hollered.

"Peach will explain why I'm here and more. Right?" Himeka looked at Peach.

"Yes, now let's go into the guild," she said. They went inside and Peach explained what they had found out in the future, including the fact that Shinji was actually dead all along. When he heard this, he couldn't breathe and his chest started to hurt like crazy.

"I'm... dead? Then... how am I here right now? My chest hurts..." Shinji said hoarsely. "Excuse me... I'm going to my room," he ran to his room.

"Ok. Let me get this straight," Chatot said once Shinji was gone. "Grovyle was actually a good guy collecting the time gears to save the world? And Dusknoir was actually a wicked villain?"

"Yup. Although, I didn't say he was wicked," Peach said.

"Himeka is your mom and your teammate, Shinji, was apparently... dead all along," Chatot cringed when he said the part about Shinji.

"Yup," Peach said.

"You were Grovyle's partner until one point?" Chatot continued.

"Yes, I can't believe it either..." Peach said. She cringed because she had hated Grovyle for almost killing her partner.

"Finally, the world in the future is paralyzed and you're searching for the Hidden Land?" Chatot finished.

"Yes," Peach said.

"What you two need... is some sleep!" Chatot surprised them.

"What? You don't believe us?" Mario was very shocked.

"Of course not! Dusknoir, a villain? Oh, please! You don't believe them, do you, everyone?" Chatot looked around.

"We hold Dusknoir in high esteem. We cannot believe this," Dugtrio said.

"But we're telling the truth-" Mario said and was cut off by Chatot.

"Silence! I refuse to hear anymore of this nonsense!" he said.

"Um, I believe Peach and Mario's story..." Bidoof spoke up.

"Bidoof..." Peach was touched. Pretty soon, everyone in the guild except for Chatot and Wigglytuff were saying they believed their story.

"Looks like we're all in agreement!" Wigglytuff said.

"We're not all in agreement... Chatot still doesn't believe us," Peach said.

"Don't worry. Chatot believed you all along. Right, Chatot?" Wigglytuff said and winked.

"There's no fooling you, Guildmaster. I believed you all along like you said. I only pretended to not believe you to test your friendship," he said.

"Yeah, right," Peach said sarcastically.

"About the Hidden Land, you should ask the town elder, Torkoal, about it," Wigglytuff said.

"Torkoal? You mean the nice old Pokemon from the hot springs?" Mario asked.

"Yes," Wigglytuff said.

"We should go there right away!" Mario said. He was rather determined.

"Let's wait until tomorrow. I mean, you must be tired and hungry," Chimecho said. Just then, Peach and Mario's stomachs growled suddenly.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Peach said. Just as she said this, Shinji came out of his room.

"Okay, I'm fine now," he said. After that, they went to the mess hall and started eating. Peach ate like she hadn't eaten in a year. After everyone was done eating, they went to bed.

"You know, it has been a long time since we slept in these beds," Mario said as he laid in his bed.

"Not for me!" Shinji said and chuckled.

"Shinji, what did you do while we were gone?" Peach suddenly changed the subject.

"Nothing much. I explored with Team Ai. You know, May's a really nice Pokemon, despite being a total crybaby. I think I like her," Shinji said.

"Which kind of like?" Peach asked.

"Peach! Don't you think that's rude? Even a little?" Himeka asked.

"No, I don't care if I'm being rude or not. Besides, you are lucky. Lucky that they even let you sleep here," Peach said. Himeka couldn't believe how her once sweet little girl had become.

"I can't believe you're my daughter. You are just too... rude and...!" Himeka yelled at her.

"I can't believe it either! I mean, I can't believe I'm related to someone who is so weak and helpless!" Peach yelled back.

"Stop it. You're going to wake everybody up," Mario said rather quietly.

"Sorry..." Peach apologized. She looked like she meant it. She didn't like being yelled at by her own partner. Himeka just pouted. "Why don't you say you're sorry too? You're just like a little child. How old are you, anyway?" Peach tried not to be angry.

"Thirty-seven. That's how old I am. Do you know how old you are?" Himeka said stubbornly. Peach shook her head quickly. "Sixteen. You were fourteen when you disappeared. It's been about two years since then, so you're sixteen now."

"Hey, I think I remember my age, too. I think I was seventeen when I... you know... died," Shinji tried to add to the conversation.

"In human years, I guess I'm fifteen," Mario said.

"You know, I fail to see the purpose of this conversation. Was it just to reveal our ages?" Peach wondered. "Also, if I'm sixteen, that would mean Himeka gave birth to me while she was twenty-one. Isn't that a little young?"

"Probably," Shinji said.

"I don't know how long we've been talking, but we better go to sleep," Mario said. Everyone agreed with him and then they went to bed.

The next morning, Loudred woke everyone up.

"Your voice is so loud! Can't you use an indoor voice? I'm almost going deaf!" Himeka complained while covering her tiny ears. She simply wasn't used to being woken up that way.

"I'm just doing my JOB. If you don't like it, go sleep somewhere else," Loudred said and left. Soon after, they also left. They did the morning cheers and then they went to Treasure Town. They bought some supplies and took out Peach's Pink Bow. They then went to Waterfall Cave. Nothing important happened in there.

**Hot Springs**

When they got there, they immediately went to Torkoal.

"Hello, youngsters-" the elderly Pokemon noticed Himeka. "Um, who is that human?" he asked. Himeka then introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you, but how did a human end up in a place like this?" Himeka sighed and told the old Pokemon all about how she ended up in the Pokemon world. "Ok, but there is one thing that puzzles me. It's the fact a dimensional hole suddenly popped up in your world. Doesn't someone have to open one first?"

"I can't take all this dialogue! Nothing happens when we talk!" Peach screamed.

"She's right. I don't know why," Mario said.

"Um, forget what I just said! I want to get this over with!" Peach said. "Torkoal, have you heard of the Hidden Land?" she asked in a rushed tone.

"Yes, I have, but it's just a legend-" he was interrupted by Shinji.

"It's fine! Pretend the fate of the world depends on it!" he said, in a rushed tone like Peach.

"Well, the Hidden Land is, well... hidden. It is beyond the sea. To get there, you need something. What was it again?" Torkoal drew a blank.

"Please remember!" Himeka pleaded.

"Oh! I remember! You need proof!" Torkoal paused. "What was it again?" Everyone sweat-dropped anime style. "Sorry, but that's all I know."

"That's fine..." Peach was clearly disappointed. They left after that.

**Back at the guild**

"In the end, we learned nothing about the Hidden Land," Peach concluded.

"That's not true! We learned that we need proof. We'll just continue our search tomorrow," Wigglytuff said. "For now, let's eat and have a good rest." Everyone agreed to this.

The next morning started with Loudred waking the team up. This time, Himeka didn't complain about Loudred's loud voice.

"Ahem. As of now, the Hidden Land remains shrouded in mystery. We will continue our search today. That is all. You are all dismissed," Chatot said after the morning cheers. Everyone except for Team Pokecuties left.

"Okay, we're supposed to look for the Hidden Land again today. We already talked to Torkoal. We're kinda out of leads now," Mario said.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint? The footprint is the town elder Torkoal's! The footprint is the town elder Torkoal's!" Diglett shouted from underground.

"What? Torkoal is here?" Mario was surprised.

In a few seconds, Torkoal was inside the guild and everyone was around him for no explained reason.

"Boy, climbing up here is torture on the old bones!" Torkoal remarked.

"Torkoal, why are you here?" Himeka asked nicely.

"While I was relaxing in the warm waters of the Hot Spring, I remembered one small thing," he said. Peach then asked what it was. "It was about the proof you need to get into the Hidden Land. The proof has a peculiar pattern. One you wouldn't see everyday." Peach did some thinking and then she turned to Mario.

"Mario, show Torkoal your Relic Fragment!" she said in a hurry.

"Oh, okay..." he took his Relic Fragment out of his bag.

"Ah! That's it! That's the proof! W-where did you get this?" Torkoal was shocked.

"I don't know. I just picked it up one day while I was still a Pichu," Mario said.

"That's great!" Sunflora cheered.

"What's great? The fact that Mario randomly picked this thing up?" Peach was confused.

"Eek! No, no, no! I was about to say if Mario has the proof, can he go to the Hidden Land?" Sunflora said.

"I don't know that. Whether Mario is... chosen remains a mystery. This could just be the physical key for the Hidden Land," Torkoal said.

"But...! We now know that Mario has the proof to go to the Hidden Land! And knowing that is a lot!" Wigglytuff said happily.

"I guess so..." an exclamation mark appeared over Torkoal's head. "Wait... you do realize that the Hidden Land is only a legend, right? You're not actually looking for it, are you?"

"What's with the exclamation mark? Makes it feel like we're in a game, which we are not. This is real life, and in real life, exclamation marks do not randomly appear over people's heads!" Shinji said. He was conveniently ignored.

"Yes, we are!" Wigglytuff said.

"Wh-what?" Torkoal was very surprised.

"Chatot, we've seen this pattern before, haven't we?" Wigglytuff turned to Chatot.

"What?" Peach was surprised by this.

"Yes, we have. Inside Brine Cave, but Wigglytuff...!" Chatot cringed. It was obvious that something bad happened to him there.

"I know, there is that vicious bandit that lives there," Wigglytuff said.

"That'll be no problem! We've faced legendaries before! This will be a piece of cake!" Peach said.

"Don't be so nonchalant about it, Peach! That bandit is really tough!" Chatot yelled at Peach, who just shrugged.

"That's enough. Everyone, please listen. Once, we were exploring Brine Cave and we saw this pattern deep inside it. There will be lots to discover if we take the Relic Fragment there. However, there is one problem-" Wigglytuff was cut off by Peach.

"Let me guess: there's a vicious bandit who lives there," she said.

"Yes. That place is challenging. We should take the rest of today to get ready. You are all dismissed," Wigglytuff said. Every apprentice shouted their usual cheerful "HOORAY!" before leaving. Team Pokecuties stayed behind. After that, Wigglytuff and Chatot had a conversation about Chatot being on standby.

"But if something happened to you like last time... I'd... I'd..." Wigglytuff had tears in his eyes.

"I'll be okay! Just let me go to Brine Cave!" Chatot begged him.

"Fine. You'll go with Team Pokecuties," A scream was heard from Peach.

"Th-thank you!" Chatot thanked the Guildmaster.

"Also, I'll be going to run an errand. You're in charge while I'm gone," Wigglytuff then said. He left for his room, and Chatot then went in front of Team Pokecuties.

"So that's where it stands. You'll be going with me tomorrow to Brine Cave," he said. Peach grumbled. "I know you hate me, Peach, but you have to cooperate with me just this once. No buts!"

"Fine," Peach said. Team Pokecuties left after a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Torkoal was at the crossroads.

"Boy, I wish I could go with the guild to Brine Cave! Oh, it reminds me of my youth!" Torkoal then heard a laugh. "Who's that?" he looked around frantically. Team Skull came onto the scene.

"We're Team Skull! Chaw-haw-haw! We heard you just went to the guild and that you have some juicy bits of information. Tell us!" Skuntank said.

"What?" Torkoal was clearly confused.

"Oh no! Some chumps from the guild are coming! Even worse, it's Team Pokecuties! We better take this matter somewhere private, or that wimp's girlfriend will try to snap us like a twig!" Zubat noticed Peach coming from the guild. Team Skull left, taking Torkoal with them. Team Pokecuties went into Treasure Town, shopped for supplies, and were about to leave for the guild when an exclamation mark appeared above Mario's head.

"Hey, guys! We should swing by Sharpedo Bluff. Who knows? We might find Grovyle there," Mario said. The rest of the team agreed with him.

When they got inside the opening in Sharpedo Bluff, Mario immediately noticed a note on the ground.

"Hey, team! There's a note on the ground!" he said and went over to pick it up.

"Captain Obvious to the rescue," Peach said with no enthusiasm.

"So, Mario, what does it say?" Himeka asked.

"It's from Grovyle. He has collected three time gears. He's also warning us about Dusknoir, who could return from the future at any point," he said.

"Well, he doesn't seem to be the type to give up," Peach said.

"Grovyle said that when he was done, he would wait for us here or the beach. Guys, I think we should go there and see if Grovyle's there," Mario suggested. Everyone agreed.

When they got to the beach, Mario noticed something.

"Hey, the Krabby aren't blowing bubbles. They usually do that in the evenings," he said, "Oh, we were looking for Grovyle, weren't we?"

"Yes, but he isn't here. What's that? Guys, look! It's far away on the sea!" Peach suddenly noticed something. Everyone looked in the direction of the sea. Like Peach had said, there was something on the sea.

"You're right... It looks like it's swimming..." Himeka said.

"What could it be?" Shinji wondered.

"Hey, Peach. Do you remember that this is the place where our first adventure started?" Mario asked.

"Yeah. Why would I forget?" Peach was confused. Mario took out his Relic Fragment and set it on the ground.

"Our first adventure started with this Relic Fragment. Now, we're using the same Relic Fragment for finding the Hidden Land. Isn't that exciting?" Mario said.

"Yup," Peach responded.

"Ok, we've spent enough time here. Let's go back to the guild," Himeka said. Everyone agreed and they left for the guild. As soon as they were gone, Team Skull came out.

"That old geezer wasn't lying! Why don't we mug that wimp and take his Relic Fragment right now?" Koffing said.

"Patience. We'll wait for the right time to mug him. I heard that they are going to Brine Cave tomorrow. We'll wait until then. Then the ones to explore the Hidden Land will be Team Skull! Chaw-haw-haw!" Skuntank laughed. His cronies laughed with him.

The next morning, Peach and her teammates were woken up by Loudred. They rushed to the usual morning cheers.

"Ahem! The Guildmaster had to do some errands, so I'll be leading you for right now," Chatot said after the cheers. There was complete silence. "Why aren't you guys saying anything? Do you not think of me as a good leader. Well, Peach, I know you hate me, but can you trust me? Just this once?"

"Eek! We think of you as a great leader!" Sunflora said.

"Yeah, why would we think of you as a bad leader?" Mario said.

"Show us the way, Chatot!" Shinji said. Basically, everyone was saying that Chatot would make a great leader. Well, everyone but Peach.

"Well... who else can lead us and do it well? Chatot, I think you'll make a great leader. It's not like anyone else can do it. We're just apprentices, after all," Peach spoke after a few minutes of silence. Tears welled up in Chatot's eyes and he started shaking. However, he wasn't sad at all. He was overcome by happiness.

"You really think of me that way, everyone? Even you, Peach? Thank you!" he said happily.

"HOORAY!" everyone cheered out of nowhere.

"Okay, let's get going!" Chatot said. They left after that.

When they got there, Chatot told everyone that they would be going in groups and that he was going with Team Pokecuties.

"We overheard that conversation yesterday. We don't need to be told that again. Besides, I don't want to go with you," Peach said.

"Hey! I was telling you just in case you forgot! Also, if I had my choice, I would have kicked you out of the guild a long time ago! Peach, I don't get why you hate me so much!" Chatot was a little angry.

"I have my reasons for hating you," Peach said. "For now, let's get this done with." They all went inside the mystery dungeon.

**9 Floors Later...**

"Wow! Chatot, I didn't know you were a few levels higher than us!" Shinji said in amazement when they finished the first part of the dungeon.

"I have many years of experience, so it's only natural," Chatot said. Peach just groaned.

"Hey, have you noticed we're at the midpoint? We don't have much to go now!" Mario said.

"We can see that, Captain Obvious," Peach said.

"We need to be careful now-" Chatot was interrupted by Mario getting mugged by Team Skull, who had just come in. The Relic Fragment fell out of his bag, which Zubat grabbed.

"Excuse me, princess," Skuntank said. Peach was not only mad at this remark, she was furious.

"How DARE you call my best friend that! I will kill you!" she lunged at Skuntank, only to be stopped by Chatot.

"Peach! Stop this instant!" he said, "Team Skull, you're back! I worried for your well being!"

"You worried for our well being? Your guild is full of idiots. Come on, you haven't even kicked out that savage princess yet," Skuntank pointed to Peach, who was already mad. That statement made her beyond furious.

"How DARE you call me that! You'll be beyond dead once I'm finished with you!" she screamed and lunged at Skuntank, only to be stopped again. This time, it was Mario.

"Peach! Violence is not the answer!" he said.

"Team Skull, your tone and demeanor is much coarser now!" Chatot said.

"Isn't it obvious? We were deceiving your stupid guild all along!" Skuntank said and laughed.

"What?" Chatot was surprised.

"We don't need your stupid guild anymore. We have that wimp's Relic Fragment. All we have to do is go to the Hidden Land. See you!" Skuntank said and left with his cronies.

"Now I understand why you guys hated Team Skull so much! They won't get away with this!" Chatot ran after them.

"Chatot! Get back here!" Mario shouted to him, but he was already gone.

"Great. Just great. Our team has enough problems. First, there are those bandits Chatot told us about. Second, we need to get Mario's Relic Fragment back from Team Skull. Lastly, we just lost Chatot! What should we do?" Himeka sighed.

"We do what anyone would do. We chase after them," Shinji said. The team saved their progress at the Kangaskan Rock and moved on to the next part of the dungeon.

**Brine Cave Pit**

"Finally! We're at the end of the dungeon!" Himeka said.

"However, we haven't caught up to either Team Skull or Chatot yet," Peach said. They came up to a place with many red rocks and water. "Is it just me, or is it terribly hot in here?" They heard some groaning from nearby.

"Hey! There's someone nearby! Let's check it out, team!" Mario said. They went to the source of the voice and were shocked at what they saw. Team Skull was lying on the floor, barely conscious.

"What happened to you guys? You look hurt," Shinji said.

"Were you attacked by a gang of enemies?" Mario asked.

"You got that right, kid. They came out of nowhere. We were unprepared, so we got our butts kicked," Skuntank said and laughed weakly.

"Are you all right?" Mario asked.

"We're lying on the ground and at your mercy, and yet you guys worry about us. Well, most of you weaklings are," Skuntank laughed.

"I get worried about anyone who is hurt. However, I don't really know you guys, so it's not really showing," Himeka said.

"I'm a little worried and still a little angry," Peach admitted.

"Your concern is completely wasted on us. We're all right. That Chatot riled me up enough to keep going. He came to us after we wiped out and gave us a good scolding. What he said... still makes me mad. When I get up, I will deliver my payback to that annoying Chatot! Come to think of it... he actually saved us by riling us up," Stuntank laughed.

"You say you're all right, but you still look like you're in a lot of pain," Peach said.

"We've done horrible things to you, but even then... why do you bring yourselves to worry about us?" Stuntank said.

"I still hate you. You made me and my teammates furious over many things. However, I just can't leave you like this," Peach said.

"I don't know you at all. But, I just can't walk away from anyone that's hurt," Himeka said. Skuntank laughed a little and dropped the Relic Fragment onto the ground.

"Oops. I dropped it. Aren't you going to pick it up?" he said. Mario thanked him and picked it up. "Remember, the next time we meet, we'll be back to our old ways. Besides, you shouldn't waste precious time worrying about us. Shouldn't you be worrying about Chatot instead?" exclamation points appeared over everyone but Himeka.

"That's right! Chatot's in great danger! Even though I hate him, we should go after him! Skuntank, where did he go?" Peach asked frantically.

"He went deeper in..." he said.

"Thanks!" Mario and his teammates went further into the pit.

"Hey, Chief! I didn't know you had a good side. You redeemed yourself!" Koffing said once they were gone.

"Shut up, Koffing..." Skuntank said.

A few minutes later, Team Pokecuties had gotten to Chatot. He was looking around as if anticipating something.

"Be alert! Those bandits should be here. I saw their retreating figures as I chased them," Chatot said. He continued looking around.

"What bandits?" Mario asked. He started looking around with Chatot. "I don't see any bandits..."

"They were here last time. That, I am certain of," Chatot said. "Come to think of it... the first time I was attacked, it seemed to come from nowhere. However, it really came from..." Chatot looked up dramatically and saw the bandits on the ceiling. "Team Pokecuties! Watch out! They're above you!"

"What?" Team Pokecuties said in unison. Just then, a Kabutops and two Omastar dropped from above. They introduced themselves as Kabutops and the Omastar brothers.

"Trespassers must be taught a lesson! Take this!" Kabutops and the Omastar brothers attacked Team Pokecuties, but at the last second, there was a convenient flash of light. When the light faded, Chatot, who was behind them before, was in front of them and hurt.

"CHATOT!" Peach screamed, but not in an angry way.

"What?" Kabutops was surprised.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Chatot said.

"I'm surprised. The big hero shielded the weaklings with his body. That is definitely not smart," Kabutops said.

"Hey! I remember this guy! We knocked him out the same way a while ago," an Omastar said.

"He did that twice? That takes a lot of smarts!" Kabutops remarked.

"Say what you will, but I won't let you lay a finger on them! They are our prized recruits!" Chatot said.

"Chatot... you really think that way about me? Even when I've stated multiple times that I hate you? I... don't know what to say," Peach said in a hushed tone with tears in her eyes.

"Yes... Even though I would have kicked you out of the guild a long time ago... I don't hate you..." Chatot then plopped onto the ground. Kabutops just laughed.

"Hey! Don't laugh at Chatot!" Peach still had tears in her eyes.

"You weaklings are next!" a boss battle started. Despite everything that was said earlier about the bandits, they were actually quite easy to fight. Team Pokecuties won the battle in a matter of minutes. The bandits ran away like the weaklings they were. After that, they went over to Chatot, who was in a totally different place.

"Um, how did he get there?" Shinji wondered. He was ignored by Peach, who was crying like Chatot was dead.

"Chatot! I'm so sorry for all the times I chased you and stated that I hated you! I promise I'll treat you better! Please... wake up!" she sobbed.

"Peach... he's okay. Please stop crying. I don't like seeing you cry," Himeka said. Peach ignored her, too. Chatot then grunted and tried to get up.

"Chatot! You're awake! Thank goodness!" Peach said and hugged him. She stopped when she heard Wigglytuff call Chatot's name from behind them.

"Guildmaster..." Chatot said weakly. Wigglytuff and Grovyle came into the scene.

"Grovyle... please tell me you didn't see that," Peach was very embarrassed. Grovyle said nothing. Just then, the rest of the guild came. They were shocked to see Grovyle with the Guildmaster.

"I'll explain later! Right now, there's something more important!" Wigglytuff said. He went over to Chatot. "Chatot! Are you okay?"

"Hey hey! This is very bad! Chatot's hurt!" Corphish said. The guild crowded around him.

"I'm okay... as you can see..." Chatot said.

"Chatot! I wish I got here a few minutes earlier..." the Guildmaster said with tears in his eyes.

"Don't blame yourself, Guildmaster. I am so humiliated! I was knocked out by the same enemies again!" Chatot said.

"That's not true, Chatot! You don't remember this because you were knocked out right away, but when those bandits attacked... you shielded me from harm. If you didn't... I would have died right there! Sure, I sent them packing after that, but I owe my life to you, Chatot," Wigglytuff said.

"So that's what happened..." Chatot said.

"Chatot... you are my invaluable partner," Wigglytuff said.

"I'm glad to have known you... Guildmaster..." Chatot then plopped onto the ground again. Everyone except Grovyle freaked out.

"Stay calm! He can still be saved. Take him back to the guild and let him rest," Grovyle said.

"We'll take him back to the guild..." Shinji said.

"No! You can't! If you do that... Chatot's sacrifice would be meaningless! We need to go to where that strange pattern is!" Himeka said frantically.

"She's right, we need to go onward," Grovyle walked ahead. "What are you waiting for? Come on, you guys." The rest of Team Pokecuties left. While they were walking, they had a conversation.

"Grovyle, why are you here?" Mario asked.

"It's simple, actually. Wigglytuff brought me. He was looking for me. He said that your team was close to finding the Hidden Land. I planned to join you anyway, so I went with him," Grovyle said.

"Does that mean...?" Shinji asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Shinji? He collected all the necessary time gears!" Himeka said.

"That is correct," Grovyle said.

"That's great! All we need to do is go to the Hidden Land! Let's get to the place with the strange pattern!" Mario said. After that, they came to a place where there was a pool of water leading to the sea. On the wall was the strange pattern Wigglytuff was talking about. It looked a lot like the strange pattern on Mario's Relic Fragment. Mario walked up to the pool of water and noticed an opening leading outside. He commented on it.

"That's right. And also, it's getting late. I didn't notice time go by while we were in that mystery dungeon," Peach said. Himeka turned around and noticed the pattern.

"Hey, team! There's the pattern! It's on the wall behind us!" Himeka said. The rest of the team went near the pattern.

"Hey! It's like Chatot described. Let me bring out my Relic Fragment," Mario took out his treasure and set it on the ground. Suddenly, the patterns on both the Relic Fragment and the wall started glowing.

"This is amazing! The Relic Fragment is reacting to the pattern on the wall!" Shinji said. Just then, there was a blinding light. The pattern on the wall shot out a beam of light that went straight to the sea. As if being called by the beam, a Lapras came into the cave.

"This is Grovyle, Peach, Mario, Shinji, and Himeka, right?" the Lapras said.

"How did you know our names?" Himeka asked.

"Wigglytuff told me," Lapras said.

"You know Wigglytuff?" Shinji said.

"Yes, I've known him for a while. He told me you were coming here. I am the guide to the Hidden Land," Lapras said.

"Are you sure you can take us all to the Hidden Land?" Mario asked.

"Sure. I can carry you and many more on my back. That beam of light is the signal for gaining entry into the Hidden Land. It is beyond the sea," Lapras said.

"I'm not saying all of your names because it's a mouthful! Let's go to the Hidden Land together!" Grovyle said. They got on the swimming Pokemon's back and started towards the Hidden Land.

**There's a lot of characters. I need to lay off breaking the fourth wall. There's too much dialogue. These are some of the many problems with this story. However, I enjoy writing it. This is almost finished, so please bear with me! I hope you enjoyed the story so far! I also hope this story doesn't get sporked or read dramatically on the internet! However, it probably already is. I hope you liked this chapter and will continue reading when the next one comes out! Bye!**


	18. Chapter 18 Grovyle's Sacrifice

**Hey, guys! The story is almost finished! Before we start, I'd like to thank ultima-owner for reviewing all the chapters up to chapter 15! Even though you're not reviewing anymore, thank you for taking the time to read my story! This story barely gets any reviews anymore... **

**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Pokemon! Almost everything in the story belongs to Nintendo!**

**Chapter 18**

**The Hidden Land and Grovyle's Sacrifice**

"So... that's how you met Wigglytuff!" Himeka said, amazed. Lapras had just told the four Pokemon and the human how he saved Chatot.

"Yes. I never planned to reveal myself at all. However, I changed my mind when I saw Chatot on the ground. I just couldn't leave him there. After I saved him, I made Wigglytuff promise not to investigate the pattern. He agreed to my request and stopped all investigations into the matter," Lapras said.

"Why didn't you want him to investigate the pattern?" Himeka asked.

"In the Hidden Land, there is Temporal Tower where Dialga reigns..." Lapras began to say that Dialga feared that intruders would wreck the place. To prevent that, he hid the Hidden Land and Temporal Tower in a gap of time. When Shinji asked what a gap of time was, Lapras tried to explain what it was. However, it just ended up confusing everyone.

"Okay... No wonder that place can't be found. It's completely impossible!" Shinji said.

"No, it isn't. Dialga left one key. And that key is Mario's Relic Fragment. It chose him to go to the Hidden Land," Lapras said.

"But why...?" Himeka wondered.

"Dialga does not want those with bad intentions to go to the Hidden Land. To be chosen, one needs a pure heart," Lapras said.

"Hey, Mario! Hear that? You're special!" Peach slapped her partner on the back.

"Don't say that, Peach," Mario was a little embarrassed.

"Hey, Lapras! Are we there yet? You've been swimming for a while," Peach said the next morning.

"Yes, we're almost there! Look! Do you see where the ocean is a little different?" Lapras said.

"Yup! The waves are all twisted up!" Peach said. "What's that?" she then asked.

"That is the edge of the gap in time! Hold on tight!" Lapras said. Suddenly, he seemed to be lifted out of the water.

"Whoa! He's flying!" both Shinji and Mario said in unison.

"No, he's not! He is crossing the sea of time!" Grovyle said. No sooner had he said that, they had gotten to the Hidden Land. They landed on the huge landmass and got off Lapras.

"Hey, team! Look ahead! I think that's Temporal Tower!" Mario said. Everyone looked ahead and saw a tower in the sky.

"Yes. That is Temporal Tower," Lapras said.

"That is where Dialga lives... It's so big..." Himeka said quietly.

"We have to go there. That's where the time gears have to be taken," Grovyle said.

"But... how are we supposed to get up there?" Shinji wondered.

"Yeah... It's all the way up there in the sky..." Himeka said.

"You must take the Rainbow Stoneship," Lapras said.

"The Rainbow Stoneship?" Himeka said.

"Yes. Deep in the Hidden Land, you will find a place called the Old Ruins. In that place, there is a mystical vessel known as the Rainbow Stoneship. Take that, and you will be at Temporal Tower in no time," Lapras said.

"Thanks, Lapras!" Mario said.

"This is all I can do for you. You're on your own from now on. Good luck," Lapras said. After that, Team Pokecuties and Grovyle headed for the Old Ruins... only to find out that the Hidden Land was a mystery dungeon.

**Hidden Land 1F**

"Oh crap! We have to go through another mystery dungeon!" Peach said.

"So? We had to go through a lot of mystery dungeons in the future," Himeka reminded her.

"I know, but it's still annoying! And Grovyle, you're still level 46! I really expected you to level up after all this time!" Peach said.

"Let's just get this over with..." Mario said. They walked until they ran into a Dragonite. It towered over Team Pokecuties and Grovyle, intimidating Mario and Himeka. The white-haired human hid behind Grovyle for cover.

"Himeka! Don't cower behind me! Actually fight for once!" Grovyle went to fight the Dragonite, leaving the pale-skinned human alone. Feeling a little courageous, Himeka went over to the fight and punched the Dragonite in the stomach. The Pokemon clutched its stomach and fell onto its knees.

"Wow, Himeka can pack a punch when she's motivated," Peach said, a little surprised. She then defeated the enemy with a powerful Hydro Pump attack. After that, they walked and found the stairs.

**Hidden Land 2F**

When they got onto the floor, they quickly found out they were in a monster house. Himeka screamed, drawing all attention to her. Team Pokecuties and Grovyle took this opportunity to attack the opposing Pokemon while Himeka cowered.

"Wow, she's a worse coward than you were, Mario," Peach commented while attacking a Tropius with Drill Peck. After the monster house was cleared out, they walked to the next room, where the stairs were.

**13 Boring Floors Later...**

"We've made it to the midpoint! Good job, team!" Mario said and tried to give everyone a thumbs-up, but couldn't due to the lack of opposable thumbs.

"That means we're almost there, right?" Himeka asked Grovyle.

"That's right. It will only get tougher from here. We need to stay alert and move quickly," Grovyle said. Peach then used the Kangaskan Rock to record her progress. Nothing worth noting happened after that.They got to their destination after 8 floors of torture.

**Old Ruins**

When they got there, they walked past ancient paintings of legendary Pokemon. They then came to a huge set of stairs.

"This is the Old Ruins. The Rainbow Stoneship should be here," Grovyle said. Team Pokecuties and Grovyle climbed to the top of the stairs and saw something in Unown language on a tablet and a pattern on the floor.

"Mario! That pattern looks just like the one on your Relic Fragment!" Shinji pointed out.

"And there's the language of the Unown on that tablet. I studied that language extensively in the future. Let me read it," Grovyle quickly read the tablet. "It seems that the Old Ruins is the Rainbow Stoneship itself. Mario, there's a hollow in the center of the pattern. Put your Relic Fragment in it." Mario nodded and was about to put it in the hollow when he was stopped by a voice.

"That will be enough," the voice sounded from the right. Team Pokecuties and Grovyle were quickly surrounded by six Sableye. Dusknoir came onto the scene a few seconds after.

"Dusknoir! I knew you would return sooner or later!" Peach's face was full of hate. She would never forgive him for betraying her team. Shinji frantically tried to find a way out, as he almost always ran when Dusknoir was near.

"I won't stop until you and your little team are done for. You should know that best, Grovyle," Dusknoir said.

"What should we do now, Lord Dusknoir?" the Sableye with the eyepatch asked his master.

"To the Dimensional Hole with them!" Dusknoir ordered.

"No! They're going to take us to the future again! I don't want to go back! That place was scary!" Mario said. The Sableye took Team Pokecuties and Grovyle to where the Dimensional Hole was.

"Attack now!" Grovyle said without warning. The Pokemon did their regular attacks while Himeka kicked the Sableye away.

"I see now. You want to fight. Well, that works out for me. I'll drag you into the Dimensional Hole even if it kills me!" Dusknoir said. A battle broke out instantly. Dusknoir and his underlings moved towards Team Pokecuties and Grovyle.

"There's seven of them and only five of us! What should we do?" Mario said.

"Knock out the Sableye first. Peach, do you have a Stun Seed?" Grovyle asked the leader of Team Pokecuties.

"Yes, I picked one up in Brine Cave," Peach responded.

"Throw it at Dusknoir!" Grovyle instructed. Peach nodded and did as Grovyle said, but Dusknoir dodged the seed swiftly.

"You actually thought you could do that to ME? I will not let you have such a cheap advantage!" Dusknoir laughed. Peach cursed under her breath.

"Haven't you forgotten something, Peach? I learned Discharge while we were in the mystery dungeon!" Mario was about to use his new move, but he was hit with Dusknoir's Shadow Punch.

"I won't let you win that easily!" Dusknoir said. Peach tried to use Blizzard, but was slashed by the Sableye with an eyepatch. "It's no use using those moves! I want a fair fight!" Dusknoir said.

"Coming from him, I don't think so," Shinji said. He then used Copycat to use Shadow Punch on a Sableye. It was quite powerful, so the Sableye was knocked out. Peach jumped into the air and used Drill Peck on another Sableye, knocking it out. In no time, all of the Sableye were knocked out.

"Impressive. Now, it's time for the real challenge! Do you think you can defeat ME?" Dusknoir said and used Shadow Punch on Grovyle. Grovyle hit back with Leaf Blade. Team Pokecuties moved towards Dusknoir and started using their attacks on him. Shinji used Copycat in order to use Shadow Punch and attacked Dusknoir. Peach used Hydro Pump and aimed at Dusknoir. Mario used Thunder on him. Dusknoir used another Shadow Punch attack, this time it was aimed at Peach. However, Himeka blocked the attack. "I'll never get the bond between mother and daughter. Blocking her from my attacks is the stupidest thing you could possibly do. Especially when you're human," Dusknoir laughed.

"She may be annoying, but she's still important to me! How dare you say that!" Peach dealt the final blow to Dusknoir with a Hydro Pump attack.

"I... will not lose!" Dusknoir pushed the whole team back with Shadow Punch.

"What? I though we defeated him! Why is he still fighting?" Himeka was very confused.

"Dusknoir does not go down as easy as you think. I know that best," Grovyle said.

"He's a tough Pokemon to beat, that's for sure," Peach said.

"You actually tried to challenge ME? I applaud you for your effort. Sadly... for you... this is the end!" Dusknoir opened the mouth on his stomach and started charging up for a powerful attack.

"H-he's going to attack us from the mouth on his stomach!" Shinji said.

"Everyone! There's a way to deflect the attack! Force all your moves down his stomach! Himeka, you just move out of the way. I don't want you to die," Peach said. Sure enough, when Dusknoir finally stopped charging, he threw a dark ball at them.

"Go!" Grovyle said right before they used their moves to deflect the attack back at Dusknoir's stomach. Dusknoir screamed as the attack hit him.

"How could I possibly be defeated? It's not possible!" With that, Dusknoir finally fainted.

"We actually defeated Dusknoir! And I'm still alive!" Himeka jumped for joy.

"Wheh-heh-heh? Lord Dusknoir... is down! Run away!" the Sableye retreated into the Dimensional Hole. Team Pokecuties and Grovyle walked over to Dusknoir.

"You have such reliable allies, Dusknoir. They ran off when you were defeated," Peach said.

"Mario and Himeka. Go to the top of the temple. I want you two to check if the Rainbow Stoneship works. Meanwhile, Shinji, Peach, and I will keep an eye on Dusknoir," Grovyle turned to face Team Pokecuties.

"Okay, Grovyle! We won't let you down!" Himeka said as they headed up the long flight of stairs. Dusknoir then moved a little and raised his head.

"Grovyle... is this really what you want? If you change the future now... we Pokemon of the future will disappear forever. That means you... Shinji and Grovyle. Peach... you'll just return to the human world like you never were in the future in the first place," Dusknoir said. Shinji clutched his chest and fell to his knees. Tears streamed from his eyes because he was in so much pain.

"What's going on with me...? Why won't my chest stop hurting...? Make it stop... Please..." he choked out.

"Grovyle... is this true...? Please say it isn't true..." Peach was on the verge of crying. She didn't want to leave her friends or go back to a now unfamiliar world.

"I'd like to say it isn't... but it is. Dusknoir is telling the truth. You will go back to your original world, and Shinji and I will disappear," Grovyle soon felt a blue flipper slap his face. He put his hand to where Peach had slapped him. "That's... the same reaction you gave me when you were human. I had told you this after we had found all of the time gears' locations, and you were so upset at that time. You react badly to bad things. That, I suppose, hasn't changed."

"I can't believe you! Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" she screamed. Tears were flowing from her eyes.

"What could I have done? If your partner heard this, he would be crushed and would not want to go here in the first place," Grovyle remained calm.

"I understand that! That's not why I'm so upset! I don't want to go back to the human world! I want to stay with Mario and Shinji! Even Himeka!" Peach screamed at Grovyle.

"If I had my choice, I would also stay, but that's the way it is. Fated to disappear once history is changed," Grovyle said.

"Peach... Please be strong... I don't want to disappear... But, if I have to, so be it. I don't want time to stop... and neither do you..." Shinji said, still in a lot of pain.

"Shinji, you're right. I need to be strong for everyone. Nobody's going to like it if I gave up just to stay here," Peach stopped crying.

"If anything else changed about you, Peach... It's true that we had a resolve to save the world, but... that changed when you became a Pokemon... You found a friend and partner in Mario. No... not just friends or partners... more than that. He looks up to you, Peach. If he found out you had to go back to the human world... he would lose the will to live. I know how important you are to him, and that won't change," Grovyle said.

"I understand now... If we change the future, it will cease to exist and the Pokemon of the future will disappear. As for me, since the future will cease to exist... I'll be forced back to the human world. And... Mario and Himeka..." Tear streamed down her face again.

Meanwhile, Mario and Himeka were at the top of the temple.

"Okay... I just have to set this here..." Mario put his Relic Fragment into the hollow in the center of the pattern. There was a flash of light, and then the pattern started glowing.

"It's doing something!" Himeka was shocked.

Back where the Dimensional Hole was, everyone noticed the noise coming from the Rainbow Stoneship. The three Pokemon took their attention off Dusknoir for a second, and then he got up and punched Peach and Shinji away.

"You'll never change history! I won't allow it!" Dusknoir was about to attack them, but Grovyle blocked it. Peach and Shinji got up and saw that Grovyle was hurt. They were both shocked. "You defended them? You must have taken a lot of damage! Very well. You'll go down first!" Just then, Grovyle got up and started pushing Dusknoir towards the Dimensional Hole. "What are you doing?"

"Dusknoir! You're coming back with me... to the future!" Grovyle seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"What?" Dusknoir was as surprised as Peach and Shinji were. Grovyle turned his head to look at the two Pokemon behind him.

"Peach! Shinji! It's up to you two now! Finish what I started... and prevent the planet's paralysis!" the time gears dropped out of Grovyle's bag.

"The time gears!" Peach said, still surprised.

"Ok, team! We got the Rainbow Stoneship running!" Mario and Himeka came down from the temple and noticed what was going on. Himeka clapped her hands on her mouth and stared in disbelief.

"Grovyle... you're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?" Himeka started to sob.

"Himeka... I'm sorry. This is it for me. Dusknoir is going back with me... to the future! I cannot come here ever again. Mario, watch Peach's back... Promise me!" Grovyle said.

"But... I can't do that! I can't take your place!" Mario had tears in his eyes.

"Yes, you can and you already have. Because you two... are the greatest of combinations," Grovyle said.

"Unhand me this instant!" Dusknoir struggled to get out of Grovyle's strong grip.

"We're almost there! Be quiet for a moment!" Grovyle said. "Peach... Shinji... Himeka... take care. I was blessed to meet you three. Though the parting hurts... the rest is in your hands! Team Pokecuties! This is farewell!" with one final push, Grovyle went into the Dimensional Hole with Dusknoir. The Dimensional Hole closed after that, destroying any chance of anyone going with them. Team Pokecuties went towards where the time gears were and started picking them up. Peach held the one she picked up for a few moments.

"Grovyle... you idiot. Why did you have to go...?" she then gave it to Mario, who put it in his bag.

"It's okay, Peach. We'll make a better future for Grovyle to live in! I promise!" Mario said and tried to smile, but couldn't due to the fact he was so sad.

"Hey, Peach, one of the last things Grovyle said to you was 'Though the parting hurts...' I think I know what it means now. You were friends with Grovyle for a long time. Parting must have hurt a lot for him..." Himeka said.

"Hey, team! Let's do this for Grovyle's sake! We need to go to Temporal Tower!" Shinji seemed determined. Everyone quietly nodded and headed up to the Rainbow Stoneship.

When they got there, the Rainbow Stoneship was about to leave. They quickly got onto it and departed for Temporal Tower.

**Whew! This is the second to last chapter of the story! (Not counting the epilogue.) I feel this story has become darker in tone, maybe because of one of my darker stories, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Burning Exploration Team. Well, I hope you enjoyed this story up to this point! Bye!**


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